By Mike Scarcella
WASHINGTON, Aug 13 (Reuters) – A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit on Thursday by the Trump administration that alleged that Harvard University failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston said in his ruling that the administration’s lawsuit, which was 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.
The judge said the lawsuit did not adequately allege failures by the Ivy League school after the government told Harvard in June 2025 that it was not complying with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which 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.
The lawsuit came amid an escalating clash between the administration and Harvard, a leading target of President Donald Trump’s campaign to overhaul major U.S. universities. The administration said in court papers that it was suing to “recover billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies awarded to a discriminatory institution.”
The administration in December appealed a judge’s order that found it unlawfully terminated more than $2 billion in grants awarded to Harvard and could no longer cut off its research funding. In another case, a federal judge last year blocked the administration’s efforts to revoke Harvard’s ability to enroll international students.
The civil rights lawsuit alleged that Harvard faculty and leadership “turned a blind eye to antisemitism and discrimination against Jews and Israelis.”
Harvard has denied the claims and in an earlier statement called the lawsuit “yet another pretextual and retaliatory action by the administration for refusing to turn over control of Harvard to the federal government.”
In a June court filing, Harvard urged Stearns to dismiss the administration’s lawsuit, saying the government had not alleged ongoing or imminent violations of Title VI.
“Harvard condemns antisemitism and is committed to ensuring that Jewish and Israeli students, like all members of the Harvard community, can learn and participate fully in campus life free from harassment or exclusion,” the university said.
(Reporting by Mike Scarcella; Editing by David Bario, Rod Nickel and Mark Porter)
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