Federal judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit against Harvard over alleged anti-Jewish harassment
A Boston federal judge ruled that the Justice Department's claim Harvard failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students does not show a continuing civil-rights violation, leading to the case's dismissal.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston dismissed the Justice Department's lawsuit against Harvard University, finding that the complaint did not demonstrate an ongoing violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The administration had alleged that Jewish and Israeli students faced harassment, physical assault, stalking and spitting after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack, and that the university failed to act. Stearns said the incidents cited were “too isolated and episodic” to support a claim of continuous discrimination and that the complaint misinterpreted Title VI, which is intended to encourage compliance rather than punish past conduct. He noted that the amended complaint lacked factual allegations of non-compliance after Harvard was notified in June 2025, and therefore did not meet the statutory purpose of an enforcement action.
"We are not diminishing any concern arising from campus events in the immediate aftermath of the Hamas attacks," Stearns wrote.
The ruling marks a setback for the Trump administration's broader effort to challenge Harvard's policies on race, admissions and diversity initiatives.