A federal judge in Boston dismissed the Trump administration’s civil rights lawsuit against Harvard University on Thursday, finding that the government failed to show that the school remained in violation of federal discrimination law after officials formally warned it about alleged antisemitism on campus.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns said the Justice Department’s case relied largely on events from the 2023 and 2024 academic year, including allegations that Harvard failed to adequately protect Jewish and Israeli students during a period of widespread campus protests. Only three incidents cited by the government occurred later, all in March 2025.
The Justice Department sued Harvard in March, accusing the university of failing to properly respond to harassment and discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students following the October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the protests that followed on college campuses.
Federal officials claimed Harvard knew students were facing discriminatory harassment but failed to respond adequately and did not enforce campus rules equally. The government argued that Harvard’s response amounted to deliberate indifference, a legal standard that can apply when a school knows about serious discriminatory harassment and fails to take an adequate response. It also sought to recover federal grant money the university received while allegedly failing to comply with civil rights requirements.
Stearns focused on what happened after June 30, 2025, when federal officials formally notified Harvard that they had determined the university was violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. He found that the government’s amended lawsuit did not point to later conduct showing that Harvard continued to violate the law after receiving that notice.
Title VI prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin at schools and other programs that receive federal money. Although religion itself is not listed in the law, its protections can extend to discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics, including claims involving Jewish students when the alleged conduct is tied to ancestry or ethnic identity.
Federal officials can take enforcement action when an institution receiving government money fails to comply with those protections, but the law requires them to first notify the institution of the alleged violation and determine that voluntary efforts have not brought it into compliance. Stearns said that process is aimed at correcting ongoing violations rather than punishing an institution solely for past conduct.
The judge did not decide whether Harvard’s handling of the earlier incidents violated Title VI. His ruling was limited to whether the government alleged enough continued misconduct after the formal notice to pursue the enforcement case it filed.
Harvard denied the government’s allegations and argued that the lawsuit was part of a broader effort by the administration to pressure the university after it rejected a series of federal demands. The school has said it condemns antisemitism and has taken steps to address harassment and discrimination on campus.
The lawsuit is one of several legal disputes between Harvard and the Trump administration over federal funding and university policies. In a separate case, a federal judge blocked the administration from terminating more than $2 billion in research grants to Harvard. The government has appealed that ruling.
Federal lawyers also argued that they should still be able to recover grant money tied to earlier alleged violations. Stearns did not decide whether Title VI or Harvard’s grant agreements could allow the government to recover those funds, finding that the issue did not overcome the shortcomings he identified in the government’s case.
