Federal Judge Dismisses Trump Administration’s Harvard Admissions Investigation

• Judge Myong Joun dismissed the lawsuit, stating it was filed without exhausting required steps to secure Harvard’s voluntary compliance.
• Harvard has previously won rulings blocking the administration’s attempts to terminate over $2 billion in grants and impose other penalties.

Updated 2 min 15 sec ago

November 3, 2026
03:21

BOSTON — A federal judge in Boston has thrown out the Trump administration’s effort to force Harvard University to hand over detailed admissions data for an investigation into whether the university still considers race in its student selection process. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun rejected the Department of Justice’s complaint, agreeing with Harvard that the agency failed to follow the necessary procedural steps aimed at obtaining voluntary cooperation before filing suit.

The decision, which rests on narrow procedural grounds, does not address the broader question of whether the Justice Department and the U.S. Department of Education could later compel Harvard to release applicant‑level information. Judge Joun, a Biden appointee, emphasized that the administration must first pursue the legally required “voluntary compliance” measures, such as notifying Harvard of potential litigation if it does not cooperate.

In his ruling, Joun noted that the DOJ’s complaint did not allege that Harvard was warned of the consequences of non‑compliance nor did it specify any particular failure by the university to provide the requested data. Harvard’s attorneys had argued that the lawsuit was retaliatory, coming after President Trump announced the end of settlement talks and demanded $1 billion in damages, accusing the school of “behaving very badly.”

Harvard has been a focal point of the administration’s broader campaign to use federal funding as leverage against institutions it claims promote “radical left” ideologies. The university has secured multiple injunctions preventing the termination of grants, blocking restrictions on international student enrollment, and halting lawsuits alleging inadequate protection of Jewish and Israeli students.

The Justice Department filed the case in February, asserting that Harvard was not complying with an investigation into its adherence to the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision striking down race‑conscious admissions policies. The administration said it needed years of granular admissions data to determine whether race remains a factor in Harvard’s decisions and whether the university is meeting Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Judge Joun’s dismissal leaves open the possibility that the DOJ could refile a similar suit after completing additional administrative steps. The ruling underscores the procedural safeguards that protect universities from premature or retaliatory litigation while preserving the government’s ability to pursue its investigative objectives through proper channels.

Source link