As the Trump administration investigates allegations of antisemitism throughout the California State University and University of California systems, some educators are crying foul — and a lawsuit has been filed by a faculty union to block the feds from receiving scholars’ contact information.
The California Faculty Association on Oct. 10 filed a complaint seeking to halt system administrators from disclosing professors’ emails and phone numbers in response to federal subpoenas seeking to determine the extent of antisemitism at the CSU system’s 23 campuses.
“CSU capitulated without a fight to the Trump Administration’s witch hunt of faculty. We are suing for accountability of the CSU administration and we demand they do more to protect faculty, students and academic freedom,” the association stated in a news release.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is investigating complaints of campus antisemitism and is sending professors queries to understand whether there is a pattern or practice of discrimination, likely by establishing statistics around these occurrences.
The commission subpoenaed phone numbers and email addresses for all employees, prompting outrage.
“We are continuing to do everything we can to learn about current threats to our members’ privacy, livelihoods, and freedoms and to develop strategies to protect us all from harm,” the faulty union stated in its news release.
The California Faculty Association is planning a massive protest at the CSU Board of Trustees meeting in November, arguing that cooperating with the federal probe hurts academic freedom.
But according to legal experts — and even Gov. Gavin Newsom — the EEOC’s request is business-as-usual and likely legal, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“Federal requests for campus data are not unusual in civil rights or employment discrimination investigations, legal experts say. But what is exceptional is the large-scale nature of the demands. CSU was ordered under subpoena to release employee information. UC says it negotiated over government asks to provide employee data — first offering redacted files — before relenting,” the Times reported.
The probe was launched in the wake of massive and aggressive pro-Palestinian protests on campuses across the Golden State during the last school year.
Carly Gammill, director of legal policy at StandWithUs, told The College Fix the probe is an important and needed step to resolving ongoing antisemitism at California’s state universities.
“We have received multiple reports of antisemitism from students and faculty across the CSU system,” she said. “Since October 7, Jewish and pro-Israel students and faculty have faced ostracization in the classroom, the spread of misinformation and hateful rhetoric by student and faculty groups, and relentless Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns.”
StandWithUs is an international group combating antisemitism and supporting Israel in the current sociopolitical climate. Its Saidoff Law division, which Gammill heads, champions legal protections and representation for victims of antisemitic expressions and actions.
“While CSU leadership has formally distanced itself from these BDS campaigns, it has failed to provide the moral clarity necessary to prevent them from isolating Jewish and pro-Israel students and faculty,” Gammill said. “It has also failed to timely address antisemitic harassment brought to its attention by both students and faculty.”
Gammill said multiple employees have filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission because of what they see as unlawful discrimination and a hostile work environment on their campuses.
“In light of these persistent issues and CSU’s repeated failure to correct the problem, there is a clear need for federal investigation and intervention at this time, and it should be rightly understood as a means of protecting civil rights, not playing politics,” she told The Fix.
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