Trump Administration's Antisemitism Lawsuit Against Harvard Dismissed by Federal Judge

A federal judge in Massachusetts on Thursday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit against Harvard University that accused the school of failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students, finding the instances of alleged discrimination cited by the government were "too isolated and episodic" to support federal civil rights violations.

U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Massachusetts issued a four-page order granting Harvard's motion to dismiss the suit.

"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 institutionalized noncompliance with Title VI persists at Harvard to this day," Stearns wrote.

The judge noted that the government's complaint lacked factual allegations occurring after the Trump administration notified Harvard of its civil rights concerns. The three remaining instances cited in the complaint took place between 2023 and 2024.

In March, the Justice Department filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the university, alleging it violated the law by failing to protect students following the October 7, 2023 terror attack by Hamas. The administration claimed Harvard's "intentional conduct and its deliberate indifference to discriminatory harassment of Jewish and Israeli students" created a hostile educational environment and sought to recover billions of dollars in taxpayer funding.

The Justice Department alleged that Harvard students endured "severe, pervasive and objectively offensive harassment" during Israel protests because of their race or national origin, and that the university knew about but failed to stop the discrimination.

The Justice Department responded in a statement indicating it "disagreed with the ruling and are assessing the next steps," while noting an ongoing antisemitism investigation by the DOJ's Civil Rights Division remains active.

Harvard and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.