The employees of the Barnard College received this week from SMS from the Federally Guming Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in their personal phones linked to a voluntary survey asking the beneficiaries if they are Jewish or Israeli and if they have been subjected to harassment or anti -Semitism.
The text, which was examined by the Guardian, declares that the Civil Rights Agency “currently examines employment practices at the Barnard College” and invites current and former employees to complete the linked investigation. It is not clear how many employees have received the investigation, but it seems to have been sent to an important part of the faculty and other staff members.
The investigation, which seemed to be part of the aggressive investigations of the Trump administration on American colleges and universities on the allegations of anti-Semitism resulting from pro-Palestinian demonstrations, has aroused anxiety in certain beneficiaries.
“Whatever the intention stated, this survey creates a list of Jewish teachers, personnel and students of Barnard,” said Elizabeth Bauer, professor of Barnard and president of the College Biology Department, who said she had been alarmed by the message.
“The government also demands now that undocumented immigrants, including children, register with the DHS. I have already seen this film and I am horrified. ”
The investigation asked if the respondent is currently working in Barnard or had already been employed and prompted the respondents to select everything that applies to choices: “I am Jewish”, “I am Israeli”, “I shared the Jewish / Israeli ancestry”, “I practice Judaism” and “other”.
Another question asked: “By working at the Barnard College, have you been subjected to one of the following elements because you practice Judaism, have Jewish ancestors, is Israeli and / or associated with one or individuals who is Jewish and / or Israeli?”
Respondents could choose from the options, including “comments, jokes or discussions not welcome”, “harassment, intimidation”, “pressure to abandon, change or adopt a religious practice or belief” and “anti-Semitic or anti-Israeli manifestations, gatherings or demonstrations that made you feel, harassed or disturbed for your work environment”.
Other questions asked the user details of the respondents, the name of the supervisor, the rental date and more.
Elizabeth Hutchinson, associate professor of American art history in Barnard,, A female college affiliated to Columbia University, said that when she had received the message on her personal phone at 5:39 p.m. on Monday, her initial reaction was: “It must be a kind of scam, because how could the eeoc have my contact details.”
The message was addressed by her name and, at the start, said Hutchinson, she did not open the ties.
“I was afraid and I didn’t know what it involved,” she said.
Celia Naylor, professor in the African Studies Department of Barnard College, also received the message on Monday. She quickly discovered that “many people I know – teachers and even some staff have also received it”.
Like many teachers and staff tried to verify the legitimacy of the message in group discussions on Monday evening, the lawyer general of Barnard, Serena Longley, sent an email to the messages.
Longley explained in the email, which was consulted by the Guardian, that the college had “received several reports according to which certain employees received SMS from the EEOC inviting them to respond to a voluntary investigation”. She also said that Barnard, Longley, “had not been warned in advance of this awareness”.
“Participation is entirely voluntary. If you choose to answer, know that the federal law and Barnard’s policy strictly prohibit any form of reprisals, ”she continued.
Longley sent a follow-up email to Barnard employees on Wednesday, which was also examined by The Guardian, explaining that the EEOC launched an investigation last summer against Barnard “concerning whether the college discriminated against or not against Jewish employees on the basis of their national origin, religion and / or breed in violation of title VII of the law on civil rights of 1964”.
“Barnard is proud to be an inclusive and respectful workplace for all people, including our Jewish employees, and has robbed the college against this EEOC investigation,” wrote Longley, adding that the EEOC had “legally the right to participate voluntarily in their investigation”.
“Barnard has complied with this legal request,” she said.
The college has heard current and former employees in recent days who have asked to be informed in advance before sharing their contact details, also noted email.
“In the future,” she said, “if and when we are required to provide information on the staff in the context of an investigation or a dispute, we will provide you with a notice unless we are subject to an order of the court which prohibits us from doing so.”
Longley also stressed that participation in the EEOC survey was voluntary.
An EEOC spokesperson said: “According to federal law, we cannot comment on the surveys, and we cannot confirm or refuse the existence of an investigation.” Barnard did not respond to a request for comments.
After hearing others discuss its content, Hutchinson finally opened the investigation on Wednesday and found it “completely shocking”.
“It is very clearly a fishing expedition,” she said, before noting that the investigation “clearly presumes guilt and is looking for very specific types of evidence for their case”.
Hutchinson also said that even if she was grateful for information provided in Barnard’s emails this week, she said they “did not recognize the reality that the faculty is experiencing increased surveillance of our campus which was now introduced into our personalized time on our personalized time”.
For Hutchinson, Monday’s message was “unprecedented” “really increased the discomfort on the campus”, the teachers now feeling vulnerable both in their classrooms and now in their private spaces too.
Naylor echoes the fact that teachers, students and staff were concerned about how their personal information was used by Barnard and shared with federal agencies. They are not sure that other personal details have been provided.
Debbie Becher, a professor of sociology of Barnard who is Jewish, spoke to the New York Times this week of SMS and the investigation, saying that she found “a little terrifying” that the federal government “wants to know who the Jews are through a text message and a Microsoft Office form.
Bauer said that not all Barnard teachers and staff had received the message, adding that he was not “clear” why some did not receive it and that others did.
“It was obvious that the investigation was an EEOC fishing expedition to find title VII violations,” said Bauer.
Colin Wayne Leach, professor of studies in psychology and African at the Barnard College, said that “as a dean focused on supporting our faculty”, he had heard many colleagues this week who are upset by messages.
They were “surprised” that the EEOC “would choose this informal, unexpected and intrusive way to ask employees to respond to an investigation into their experiences of a subject as important as anti -Semitism at their workplace”.
The spectator, the newspaper of the University of Columbia, reported on Wednesday that several members of the Faculty of Columbia also received the EEOC SMS.
Rebecca Kobrin, co -director of the Institute of Israel and Jewish Studies (IIJS), told the spectator that she and other members of the IIJ had received the message.
