A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Thursday by US President Donald Trump’s administration that alleged Harvard University failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment.
In his ruling, US District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston said the Trump administration’s lawsuit, filed in March, had not plausibly shown an ongoing violation of federal civil rights law on Harvard's campus.
Stearns said the government's allegations focused largely on incidents amid protests over Israel's war in Gaza during the 2023/24 school year, with only a handful of later incidents alleged in March 2025 that were "too isolated and episodic" to support a claim of ongoing civil rights violations.
Judge says lawsuit didn't adequately allege failures
The judge said the lawsuit did not adequately allege failures by the university after the government told Harvard in June 2025 that it was not complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It bans discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs that receive federal funding.
The White House and Harvard did not immediately respond to requests for comment.