A federal judge in the United States has rejected a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration against Harvard University alleging inadequate protection for Jewish students during campus protests. The legal action, filed in March by the Department of Justice, claimed that Harvard’s leadership failed to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act by not sufficiently safeguarding students and Israelis from discrimination amid demonstrations related to Israel’s military operations in Gaza.
Judge Richard Stearns ruled that the administration had not presented evidence supporting the claimed civil rights violation. The judge determined that the incidents cited in the lawsuit were isolated occurrences rather than evidence of systematic civil rights violations. The decision represented a setback for the Trump administration’s broader enforcement campaign targeting universities over their handling of pro-Gaza protests and other matters.
The lawsuit was one component of an extensive administration effort to address university responses to campus demonstrations. The administration has previously sought to freeze approximately $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard, a measure that a federal judge determined last year to be unlawful. Harvard’s legal team characterized the funding freeze as an attempt to leverage research resources to gain influence over institutional operations.
In contrast to Harvard’s resistance, several other major universities have opted to settle with the administration for multimillion-dollar sums. Columbia University, Northwestern University, and Cornell University reached agreements to preserve federal funding while addressing allegations related to campus protests and institutional practices including hiring and admissions policies.
Additional scrutiny has emerged regarding the administration’s enforcement approach. A November 2025 report from the American Association of University Professors alleged that civil rights law has been weaponized to restrict free speech on college campuses. The report noted that while antisemitic incidents have occurred at universities, the majority of federal civil rights complaints originated from external parties rather than affected students or campus community members.
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