Justice Department Sues Harvard University Over Refusal to Release Admissions Data
WASHINGTON — The United States Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Harvard University on Friday, significantly escalating the Trump administration’s ongoing conflict with the Ivy League institution. The complaint, lodged in a federal court in Massachusetts, accuses the university of obstructing a federal civil rights investigation by refusing to provide admissions records intended to verify compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ban on affirmative action.
The lawsuit alleges that Harvard has “thwarted” federal efforts to determine whether its admissions practices remain free of racial discrimination. According to the filing, the university has failed to comply with a demand for data issued by the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, which is conducting a compliance review initiated last April.
“If Harvard has stopped discriminating, it should happily share the data necessary to prove it,” said Harmeet Dhillon, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in a statement accompanying the filing. “Instead, they have chosen obstruction. The Department of Justice will not allow any educational institution to evade federal civil rights laws or hide potential violations from public scrutiny.”
The legal action seeks a court order compelling Harvard to turn over five years of admissions data. The requested records reportedly include applicants’ grades, standardized test scores, personal essays, extracurricular activities, and admissions outcomes, alongside demographic data such as race and ethnicity. Justice Department officials argue this information is critical to identifying whether the university is surreptitiously continuing to use race as a factor in admissions, a practice ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.
Attorney General Pam Bondi also weighed in on the lawsuit, emphasizing the administration’s commitment to a merit-based system. “Harvard has failed to disclose the data we need to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination,” Bondi stated. “We will continue fighting to put merit over ideological agendas across America.”
Harvard officials have not yet issued a formal response to Friday’s filing but have previously characterized the administration’s demands as “unconstitutional retaliation.” In prior correspondence regarding the investigation, university representatives argued that the requests were overly broad and intrusive, infringing upon student privacy and institutional autonomy. The university has maintained that its current admissions policies are fully compliant with the law and that it no longer considers race when reviewing applications.
The lawsuit represents the latest salvo in a widening rift between the Trump White House and America’s oldest university. Over the past year, the administration has threatened to withhold billions of dollars in federal research funding and has criticized the university over its handling of campus protests and allegations of anti-Jewish bias.
Legal analysts suggest this case could set a significant precedent regarding the federal government’s power to audit private universities. If successful, the lawsuit could force highly selective institutions to open their internal deliberation processes to federal regulators, fundamentally altering the landscape of higher education compliance.
The case is expected to move quickly, with the Justice Department requesting an expedited hearing to address the withheld documents.
* wgbh.org
* forbes.com
* washingtonpost.com
* thehour.com
* politicopro.com
* thepienews.com
* wgbh.org
