US district judge Richard Stearns ruled last week that the Trump administration’s lawsuit failed to prove “an ongoing violation of Title VI” by Harvard University.
The lawsuit, filed by the US Department of Justice in March this year, alleged the Ivy League University had violated the antidiscrimination statute of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
It accused Harvard of creating a “hostile educational environment” and claimed Jewish and Israeli students “were harassed, physically assaulted, stalked, and spat upon” while the institution “did nothing”, in the wake of the 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Gaza.
But the Boston judge said the government’s complaint rested on alleged incidents taking place during the 2023/24 school year, and three alleged cases taking place in March 2025 – “more than one full academic year before this case was filed”.
“Without diminishing any concern arising from these occurrences, the court finds them, singly and collectively, to be too isolated and episodic to support a plausible inference that any institutionalised noncompliance with Title VI persists at Harvard to this day,” he concluded.
We disagree with the ruling and are assessing next steps
Harmeet Dhillon, US Department of Justice
What’s more, Stearns said the government’s complaint was “devoid of any factual allegations” proving noncompliance after Harvard was put on notice of Title VI in June 2025.
“We disagree with the ruling and are assessing next steps,” Harmeet Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in the statement.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement last April, Harvard’s president Alan Garber rejected the government’s allegations and said the university was continuing to fight antisemitism.
“As a Jew and as an American, I know very well that there are valid concerns about rising antisemitism,” wrote Garber. “We will continue to fight hate with the urgency it demands as we fully comply with our obligations under the law.”
The ruling is the latest development in the administration’s long-running feud with America’s oldest university, which saw another legal victory for Harvard when a federal judge ruled the government had illegally frozen $2.2 billion in research grants under the pretence of fighting antisemitism.
Last month, the administration launched fresh attacks on Harvard, announcing an investigation into the university’s financial aid programs which it claims favour students from China over domestic students.
