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A federal judge in Boston on Monday dismissed the Trump administration’s lawsuit seeking to force Harvard University to turn over applicant-level admissions records, dealing the Justice Department a setback in its effort to investigate whether the university continues to consider race in admissions.
U.S. District Judge Myong Joun rejected the records-enforcement case, Reuters reported. The dismissal does not establish that Harvard’s admissions practices comply with civil rights law, nor does it resolve the underlying question of discrimination.
The case concerned the government’s attempt to obtain information for its investigation. It was separate from other disputes involving Harvard’s federal grants, international students and allegations of harassment of Jewish and Israeli students.
Dispute over required steps before a lawsuit
The Justice Department filed the case in February, arguing that Harvard had not supplied records needed to investigate its compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling rejecting race-conscious admissions programs, according to Reuters.
Harvard countered that the government had sued before completing legally required efforts to secure voluntary compliance. The university also said the requests sought sensitive information about thousands of high school students who applied for admission.
The court found the government had not done enough before resorting to a lawsuit, according to The Washington Times’ account of the decision. It reported that Joun said the Justice Department had not first warned Harvard that it would sue if the records were not provided.
“Nothing in this decision converts the government’s request for information into an accusation of present discrimination or resolves Harvard’s underlying Title VI compliance,” Joun wrote, according to that account.
What the government sought
The administration said the Justice and Education departments needed years of applicant-level data to determine whether race remained a factor in Harvard’s admissions decisions. The investigation concerns Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits racial discrimination in education programs receiving federal funds.
Harvard’s lawyers described the lawsuit as retaliation for its refusal to accept administration demands for changes to governance, hiring and academic programs. That was the university’s argument, not a finding adopted here as fact.
Reuters reported that the suit followed President Donald Trump’s announcement in February that he was ending settlement talks and seeking $1 billion in damages from Harvard. The administration and university have been fighting across several legal fronts, but Monday’s decision addressed the route used to demand admissions records.
A limited ruling, not an admissions verdict
The practical distinction is that dismissing a records-enforcement lawsuit is not the same as clearing the university’s admissions process. The ruling leaves the underlying compliance question unresolved.
The reports reviewed for this article did not establish a final outcome for the broader admissions investigation or a new appellate decision. Any further attempt to compel records would need to be assessed separately from Monday’s dismissal.
JBizNews Desk | Boston
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