A United States federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration accusing Harvard University of failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment and discrimination on its campus.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns in Boston ruled on Thursday that the government had failed to plausibly show that Harvard was committing an ongoing violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits discrimination based on race, colour or national origin in federally funded programmes.
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in March 2026, alleging that Harvard had been deliberately indifferent to antisemitic harassment and discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students, particularly during campus protests that followed the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaz.
However, Stearns said most of the government’s allegations concerned events during the 2023-2024 academic year, while the handful of later incidents cited from March 2025 were too isolated and episodic to establish that Harvard continued to violate federal civil rights law
The judge also found that the government’s amended complaint did not adequately identify discriminatory failures by Harvard after federal authorities formally notified the university in June 2025 that they considered it out of compliance with Title VI.
The lawsuit had sought significant financial consequences for Harvard. The Trump administration said in court filings that it wanted to recover billions of dollars in federal funding awarded to what it described as a discriminatory institution.
Harvard denied the allegations and had asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that the administration had not established any continuing or imminent violation of federal civil rights law.
The university has maintained that it condemns antisemitism and remains committed to ensuring Jewish and Israeli students can participate fully in university life without harassment or exclusion.
Thursday’s decision marks another court setback for the Trump administration in its wider confrontation with Harvard.
In a separate case, a federal judge previously ruled that the administration unlawfully terminated more than $2 billion in research grants awarded to the university. The administration appealed that decision. Another federal court also blocked efforts to revoke Harvard’s ability to enrol international students.
The latest ruling does not resolve all of the disputes between the federal government and Harvard, with separate litigation over research funding and other federal actions still continuing.
