A federal judge in Boston dismissed on Thursday a lawsuit filed in March by the Trump administration against Harvard University, which had alleged the Ivy League school failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment in violation of federal civil rights law. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns found that the incidents cited by the government were too scattered to establish a persistent civil rights violation.
Federal judge dismisses Trump administration civil rights lawsuit against Harvard University
A federal judge in Boston dismissed on Thursday a lawsuit filed in March by the Trump administration against Harvard University, which had alleged the Ivy League school failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment in violation of federal civil rights law. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns found that the incidents cited by the government were too scattered to establish a persistent civil rights violation.
In a four-page order granting Harvard's motion to dismiss, Judge Stearns determined that the government's complaint was, in his words, 'devoid of any factual allegations' occurring after the administration had notified Harvard of its alleged non-compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs receiving federal funding. Stearns found that the remaining incidents in the complaint dated to the 2023–24 academic year and that a small number of later incidents cited from March 2025 were, 'singly and collectively, too isolated and episodic to support a plausible inference that any institutionalized noncompliance with Title VI persists at Harvard to this day,' according to the judge's written order as quoted by CBS News.
The Justice Department filed the civil rights lawsuit in March, alleging that Harvard had engaged in 'intentional conduct and deliberate indifference to discriminatory harassment of Jewish and Israeli students,' particularly following Hamas's October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. The administration accused Harvard faculty and leadership of turning a blind eye to antisemitism and claimed students were subjected to, according to CBS News, 'severe, pervasive and objectively offensive harassment,' including during campus protests against Israel. The government sought to recover billions of dollars in federal research grants awarded to Harvard since October 2023, arguing it had a right to recoup the funds under Title VI.
The lawsuit is one of several actions the Trump administration has taken against Harvard since the university declined a list of White House demands following President Trump's return to office. In a separate case, the administration sought to cut more than $2 billion in Harvard research grants, and a federal judge ordered those funding cuts reversed, with the Associated Press reporting the ruling found the administration had placed unconstitutional conditions on federal funding. According to NBC News, the administration appealed that order in December. A further federal judge separately blocked administration efforts to revoke Harvard's ability to enroll international students, according to NBC News.
Following Thursday's dismissal, the Justice Department said in a statement that it 'disagreed with the ruling and are assessing the next steps,' and pointed to a continuing antisemitism investigation by its Civil Rights Division, according to CBS News. Neither Harvard nor the White House provided immediate comment on the ruling.
Where sources differ
- The specific dollar figure for the separately disputed Harvard funding cuts differs between sources: NBC News states 'more than $2 billion in grants,' while the Associated Press reports 'more than $2.6 billion in federal funding cuts.' CBS News does not specify a figure for that separate case.
- Neither Harvard nor the White House provided comment on Thursday's dismissal ruling specifically, leaving their reactions to the outcome unconfirmed.
- The sources do not specify what 'next steps' the Justice Department is considering following its stated disagreement with the ruling.
- The scope and current status of the Justice Department Civil Rights Division's separate ongoing antisemitism investigation into Harvard is not detailed in any source.
- The sources do not include any response from Jewish student organizations or individual students named in the litigation regarding the dismissal.
- The timeline for any potential appeal of Thursday's dismissal is not addressed by any source.
- NBC News — original — by Reuters
- CBS News — by Jacob Rosen
- Associated Press — by Collin Binkley