The Trump administration filed another lawsuit against Harvard on Friday morning, alleging the University is in violation of civil rights law for failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students, and asking the court to rescind billions of dollars’ worth of federal research grants that a judge had previously ordered the government to uphold.
Filed in Massachusetts federal district court, the suit alleges that Harvard ignored hostilities on campus in the years following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, thus violating anti-harassment rules and its obligations under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Harvard disputed those allegations in a statement on Friday. “Harvard cares deeply about members of our Jewish and Israeli community and remains committed to ensuring they are embraced, respected, and can thrive on our campus,” a University spokesperson said, adding that Harvard has taken “substantive, proactive steps to address the root causes of antisemitism and actively enforces anti-harassment and anti-discrimination rules and policies on campus.”
“Harvard’s efforts demonstrate the very opposite of deliberate indifference,” the statement continues. “We will continue to prioritize this important work and will defend the University against this lawsuit, which represents yet another pretextual and retaliatory action by the administration for refusing to turn over control of Harvard to the federal government.”
The lawsuit seeks to recover billions of dollars in government funding that Harvard received while allegedly out of compliance with the law. The school is set to receive $2.6 billion in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services alongside funding from other federal agencies, according to the filing.
The government’s suit also asks the court to appoint an independent outside monitor to oversee Harvard’s compliance with a ruling.
