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The free speech and freedom of association clauses of the First Amendment generally prevent the government from requiring nonprofit, private, or political associations to disclose their members' names. The reasoning is that forced disclosure of membership lists would inhibit people from joining some organizations.

• EEOC Files Subpoena Enforcement Action Against University of Pennsylvania Over Antisemitic Work Environment (EEOC press release, 11-18-25) 

• UPenn faculty condemn Trump administration’s demand for ‘lists of Jews’ (Alice Speri, The Guardian, 1-13-26)
     Groups say EEOC demand for names and personal details echoes dark history and threatens safety and civil rights. Several faculty groups have denounced the Trump administration’s efforts to obtain information about Jewish professors, staff and students at the University of Pennsylvania – including personal emails, phone numbers and home addresses – as government abuse with “ominous historical overtones”.
     The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is demanding the university turn over names and personal information about Jewish members of the Penn community as part of the administration’s stated goal to combat antisemitism on campuses. But some Jewish faculty and staff have condemned the government’s demand as “a visceral threat to the safety of those who would find themselves identified because compiling and turning over to the government ‘lists of Jews’ conjures a terrifying history”, according to a press release put out by the groups’ lawyers.

• EEOC v. University of Pennsylvania (ACLU press release, 1-13-26) The ACLU of Pennsylvania has filed a motion to intervene in EEOC v. The University of Pennsylvania on behalf of five organizations affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania after EEOC issued a subpoena to the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) demanding that Penn create and turn over membership rosters for the Jewish Studies Program and Jewish and Jewish-affiliated campus organizations, plus personal contact information and addresses of the Jewish members.

• Penn groups seek to block creation of federal 'registry' of Jewish students and faculty (Kristin Hunt, Philly voice, 1-14-26)

     The EEOC sued the university for information as part of its antisemitism investigation. Five campus organizations are trying to join the lawsuit.Five groups affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania have filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit seeking lists of Jewish organizations on campus and their members.

       Since July, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has pressed Penn for this information as part of its probe into antisemitism on Penn's campus. The EEOC requested, among other things, a list of the school's Jewish clubs and rosters of their members. It also sought a list of employees in the Jewish Studies program and their personal emails, phone numbers and mailing addresses.

     After Penn refused to furnish the information, the EEOC sued Penn in November to compel the university to honor the subpoena.

     Now, more parties are trying to join the lawsuit and, in doing so, block what they call a "centralized registry of UPenn's Jewish students, faculty, and staff." "Such compelled disclosure will be experienced as a visceral threat to the safety of those who would find themselves so identified because compiling and turning over to the government 'lists of Jews' conjures a terrifying history," the court documents read.

     The ACLU of Pennsylvania and other civil rights lawyers filed the motion on behalf of the five groups. They include two Jewish organizations — the American Academy of Jewish Research and the Jewish Law Students Association of the University of Pennsylvania Carey, Law School — as well as the Penn Association of Senior and Emeritus Faculty, the American Association of University Professors and the AAUP's Penn chapter.
      "It doesn't matter what the stated intent is," Witold Walczak, legal director of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said in a statement. "The moment our government begins compiling lists of people based on their religion or ethnicity — especially when those groups have historically faced persecution and worse — we cross a dangerous line. These types of registries don't remain benign; they create a user-friendly tool for discrimination, and history shows us that actors with malicious goals can easily weaponize them."

Updated 1-10-26
• The Latest. (Journalism Institute summary of news, National Press Club, 1-5-26)

    'The Latest' column is an outstanding resource.

(Here is a summary of headlines, minus links. Scroll down for headlines with links to the stories.) 

    "The Trump administration is trying to control its Venezuela message by funneling info through the White House. Pentagon beat reporters tell me they're not getting answers from military spokespeople. Press officers are regularly referring questions to the WH.' (Brian Stelter) / New York Times, Washington Post held off on reporting Venezuela raid (Semafor) / Disinformation floods social media after Nicolás Maduro's capture (WIRED) / Behind the scenes of our Nicolás Maduro front page (New York Times) / How a New York Times reporter got a phone interview with Trump after Maduro's capture (New York Times) / 'The Washington Post editorial board comes out in favor of the Venezuela attack/operation to capture Maduro' (Max Tani) etc.

More on those stories (where that column's links led):

--- The Trump administration is trying to control its Venezuela message by funneling info through the White House. Pentagon beat reporters tell me they're not getting answers from military spokespeople. Press officers are regularly referring questions to the WH. Images of Venezuela attack flooded social media. Reporters struggled to get answers on U.S. military questions. ~Brian Stelter, Chief Military Analyst, CNN, on Blue Sky, NY Times and Washington Post, 1-5-26
---Comment: (Pat Az‬ ‪@pataz1.bsky.social)‬: Because they’re trying to force everyone to report on it as a law enforcement operation”, which @cnn.com dutifully used as their framing the day it happened.)
---News organizations held off on reporting Venezuela raid (Max Tani and Shelby Talcott, Semafor, 1-3-26)

First in @semafor.com: NYT, WaPo learned of the secret US raid on Venezuela soon before it was scheduled to begin but held off  Read More