The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed court papers accusing the University of Pennsylvania of an “intensive and relentless public relations campaign” to resist producing records tied to an investigation of alleged antisemitic discrimination. The EEOC sought lists of Jewish students and employees it says are necessary to identify victims and witnesses; Penn has called the request “extraordinary and unconstitutional.” Faculty, student and national AAUP leaders intervened, warning that compiling religious‑identity lists recalls troubling historical precedents and could chill academic freedom and free expression. Penn and the EEOC are now in court over the scope and legality of the agency’s demands. The dispute has reverberated across the Ivy League and other research universities that fear intrusive federal inquiries into campus affiliations and scholarship. Legal analysts expect the case to test the limits of federal investigatory power and the privacy rights of religious and minority groups on campus. Trustees, counsel and compliance officers at other institutions are monitoring the litigation for implications on recordkeeping and cooperative responses to civil‑rights probes.