US DOJ sues Harvard for failing to provide data on race in admissions probe

By Erik Larson, Patricia Hurtado and Janet Lorin

 

The Justice Department sued Harvard University for allegedly failing to hand over documents related to investigations into racial discrimination in admissions, the latest legal clash between the Trump administration and the Ivy League institution. 

The suit filed Friday in Boston federal court alleges that Harvard for 10 months hasn’t produced the necessary documents and other information the government needs to ensure the university isn’t violating federal civil rights laws. The probe relates to a compliance review started in April 2025, the US said. 

 

“Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice is demanding better from our nation’s educational institutions,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “Harvard has failed to disclose the data we need to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination — we will continue fighting to put merit over DEI across America.”

 

 

The university said it has complied with civil rights law under a 2023 Supreme Court decision, which effectively barred universities from using race as a factor in university admissions.

 

“Harvard has been responding to the government’s inquiries in good faith and continues to be willing to engage with the government according to the process required by law,” said Jason Newton, a spokesman for the university.

 

President Donald Trump’s administration has aggressively targeted elite universities by withholding federal grants over alleged antisemitism as well as racial and ideological diversity. Though other Ivy League schools like Columbia and Brown have reached deals with the administration, Harvard has publicly fought back by filing its own suits against the government.

 

After the New York Times reported earlier this month that Trump had dropped his demand for a $200 million payment from Harvard, the president announced he was now seeking $1 billion in “damages” from the university. He did not specify under what authority he would seek the money.

 

In Friday’s suit, the government said it had asked Harvard to produce “all admissions data for the past five academic years, including applicant test scores (SAT/ACT), GPA, extracurricular activities, essays, and admission outcomes, disaggregated by race and ethnicity.” It made similar demands of Harvard’s law and medical schools.

 

Harvard “has slow-walked the pace of production and refused to provide pertinent documents relating to applicant-level admissions decisions,” the Justice Department said in the complaint. 

 

The government asked the court to declare Harvard in violation of the law and order the university to comply with the government’s document requests.

 

“Trump is no doubt trying to push Harvard for an out-of-court settlement,” said Peter M. Shane, a professor of law at New York University School of Law. “If he can cudgel the most richly endowed university in the country into subservience, other private institutions will find it harder to resist.” 

 

The suit comes days after the Defence Department said it is severing academic ties to Harvard and ending professional military education fellowships at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government at the end of the current academic year. 

 

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who attended the Kennedy School, said in a post last Friday night that the school no longer “meets the needs” of the Department or the military services.

 

“The University will continue to defend itself against these retaliatory actions, which have been initiated simply because Harvard refused to surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights in response to unlawful government overreach,” Newton said.