Judge dismisses Trump administration lawsuit alleging Harvard failed to protect Jewish students

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.

jpost.com ·1d ago

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration against Harvard University, alleging that the institution failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment. US District Judge Richard Stearns ruled that the government's lawsuit, filed in March, did not provide sufficient evidence to prove ongoing violations of federal civil rights law on Harvard's campus.

The judge pointed out that the government's allegations mainly concerned incidents during protests over Israel's war in Gaza in the 2023/24 school year, with only a limited number of isolated and episodic incidents in March 2025 that could not establish a claim of ongoing civil rights violations. The lawsuit also failed to adequately demonstrate that Harvard had not complied with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs receiving federal funding. The White House and Harvard University have not yet commented on the ruling.

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