Trump Administration Files Lawsuit Against Harvard, Alleging Non-Compliance in Federal Admissions Investigation

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit against Harvard University, accusing the institution of failing to comply with a federal investigation and seeking documents to determine whether it unlawfully considered race in its admissions process.

 

The move comes less than two weeks after US President Donald Trump said his administration was seeking $1 billion from Harvard to settle probes into the university’s policies, following a news report that he had dropped his earlier demand for payment from the Ivy League institution.

 

A Harvard spokesperson said the university remains committed to following the law and has been responding to the government’s inquiries in good faith.

 

“The university will continue to defend itself against these retaliatory actions, which have been initiated simply because Harvard refused to surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights in response to unlawful government overreach,” the spokesperson said.

 

The Trump administration has been threatening to withhold federal funds from Harvard and several other universities over issues including pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, campus diversity measures and transgender policies.

 

The Justice Department said in a Friday press release that Harvard had “repeatedly slow-walked the pace of production and refused to produce pertinent data and documents”, including admissions policies and correspondence related to banned diversity, equity and inclusion programmes.

 

In the complaint filed in Boston federal court, Justice Department lawyers said the requested documents would help assess whether Harvard is complying with a 2023 decision by the US Supreme Court that found race-conscious college admissions programmes unconstitutional.

 

The Justice Department said it brought the lawsuit “solely to compel Harvard to produce documents relating to any consideration of race in admission” and “does not accuse Harvard of any discriminatory conduct, nor does it seek monetary damages or the revocation of federal funding”.

 

Last year, the administration attempted to cancel hundreds of grants awarded to Harvard researchers on the grounds that the university had failed to do enough to address harassment of Jewish students on its campus, prompting Harvard to sue.

 

Trump’s attempts to freeze federal funds for Harvard have faced legal resistance, and the two sides have so far failed to reach a deal.

 

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