Justice Department sues Harvard University for alleged anti-Semitism
The Justice Department has initiated an unprecedented federal lawsuit against Harvard University, accusing the Ivy League institution of not adequately protecting Jewish students from harassment and anti-Semitism. Kenneth Marcus, the president of the Brandeis Center for Human Rights, commented on this legal action, suggesting that the Trump administration is holding Harvard accountable for what it sees as a willful neglect of Jewish student welfare amid ongoing protests on campus.
In a separate development, the Justice Department is preparing for its next steps after a federal judge in Boston dismissed a lawsuit alleging that Harvard had been ignoring incidents of anti-Semitism.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon from the Civil Rights Division expressed disagreement with the ruling, stating they are evaluating possible actions. “The Office of Civil Rights conducts extensive anti-Semitism enforcement work, including prosecutions and investigations across the U.S.,” she noted in a statement.
Judge Richard Stearns, who was appointed by President Bill Clinton, dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Trump administration, concluding that the reported anti-Semitic incidents were too infrequent to demonstrate a consistent pattern of violations of federal civil rights laws, even after the federal government had lodged its complaint.
Earlier in March, the Justice Department had taken action against Harvard University following widespread anti-Israel protests that erupted nationwide after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent conflict in Gaza.
During the 2023-24 academic year, protests at Harvard reportedly involved multiple occupations of campus buildings and extended encampments. Jewish students described their experiences as being marred by harassment, exclusion, and threats. The Justice Department claimed that Harvard breached Title VI by not shielding Jewish and Israeli students from harassment, despite receiving complaints on the matter.
However, Judge Stearns mentioned that the Justice Department only pointed to three specific anti-Semitic incidents on Harvard’s campus that year, which the university supposedly failed to address.
These incidents comprised a protester who broke through a barricade at an event with former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, an employee who reportedly removed a poster of Israeli hostages, and over 60 masked protesters who conducted a “die-in” outside the Widener Library while chanting, “We honor all our martyrs.”
It’s important to note that Stearns didn’t make a ruling on whether Harvard had violated Title VI during the peak of the campus unrest. Instead, his focus was on whether the Justice Department adequately demonstrated that violations continued after the government formally alerted Harvard.
The Trump administration had sent a warning letter to Harvard on June 30, 2025, asserting that the institution was in violation of Title VI due to its handling of anti-Semitism on campus.
This law stipulates that the government must notify recipients of violations and seek voluntary resolution before enforcing any legal action.
Moreover, the Trump administration has filed two lawsuits against the University of California, alleging discrimination against Jewish and Israeli individuals within UCLA’s community.
Fox News Digital has reached out to Harvard University for its comments on these developments.
