Federal District Court Judge Richard Stearns granted Harvard’s motion to dismiss the case Thursday.
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A federal district court dismissed one of the Trump administration’s lawsuits against Harvard University on Thursday, ruling that the executive branch failed to prove the institution was committing an ongoing violation of civil rights law that inhibited Jewish students’ ability to learn.
“The court begins (and ends) with Harvard’s first argument,” the judge wrote. “The Government has not sufficiently pled an ongoing violation of Title VI.” (Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 bans discrimination based on race, color or national origin, including antisemitism and Islamophobia.)
Most of the examples the Justice Department cited in its complaint occurred before the federal government told Harvard on June 30, 2025, it was not in compliance with federal law. But in order to succeed in its lawsuit, Richard Stearns, the federal judge overseeing the case, said the Department of Justice needed to show evidence of continued noncompliance after the initial notice was issued.
