Federal Judge Dismisses Trump Administration Lawsuit Seeking Harvard's Admissions Records

A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by President Donald Trump's administration that sought to force Harvard University to turn over records for an investigation into whether it continues to consider race in its student admissions process, Reuters reported in a dispatch read in full this cycle.

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun in Boston rejected the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit, which Harvard contends was filed as part of a broader campaign by the administration against the Ivy League school. Harvard has been a top target of the administration's effort to leverage federal funding and government power to force changes at universities the president says are dominated by what he calls radical left ideologies, and the university has already secured rulings from other judges rejecting efforts to terminate more than $2 billion in grants, block it from hosting international students, and sue it for allegedly failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment, Reuters reported.

The Justice Department filed the case before Judge Joun in February, arguing Harvard was not complying with investigations into whether it is following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2023 ruling rejecting race-conscious admissions programs. The administration contends the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Education need years of applicant-level admissions data to determine whether race remains a factor, under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars racial discrimination in education programs.

Harvard's lawyers countered that the case was filed to retaliate against the university for refusing demands that it overhaul its governance, hiring and academic programs, and said the Justice Department sued without first taking legally required steps aimed at securing voluntary compliance — for records Harvard said included sensitive data on thousands of high school students who sought admission. The ruling is major national news under the network's Regional Law, and it lands on the eve of a midterm election in which the administration's fights with universities remain a live national issue for voters in Los Angeles and across the country.