By Sadie Gurman and Douglas Belkin
The Trump administration is suing Harvard University, alleging the school violated Jewish students' civil rights in the latest escalation of the government's yearlong campaign against the Ivy League school.
The suit alleges Harvard failed to protect its Jewish and Israeli students by ignoring hostility on campus and refusing to enforce antiharassment rules. The suit, being filed Friday in federal district court in Massachusetts, seeks to compel the school to comply with civil-rights law and recover millions of taxpayer dollars that Harvard accepted while allegedly in violation of the law.
Harvard is currently set to receive more than $2.6 billion in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services, among other federal agencies, according to the lawsuit.
Colleges including Harvard allowed antisemitism to flourish on campus after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks on Israel, the administration alleged. "This Justice Department has no tolerance for such brazen violations of federal law," said Harmeet Dhillon, head of the department's civil rights division, which brought the suit.
Harvard said it cares deeply about its Jewish community members and is committed to making sure they are embraced and respected on campus. It pointed to steps it has taken to address antisemitism, including training programs and antidiscrimination rules.
"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," a Harvard spokeswoman said.
The lawsuit is the latest tactic in the Trump administration's battle against Harvard and other elite universities. The administration froze $2.2 billion in federal research grants to Harvard last spring over allegations that the school tolerated antisemitism on campus. Since then, the administration has threatened its tax-exempt status, targeted its ability to enroll international students and probed its acceptance of foreign donations.
Harvard sued the administration and won a key court battle in September last year. A federal judge ruled that the Trump administration's funding cuts were unconstitutional and ordered the money restored. In December, the administration filed an appeal. Harvard has said it remains confident in its legal position.
Harvard remains deeply dependent on federal funding, and President Trump has many levers he can pull to damage the university. Harvard and the administration have been involved in on-and-off talks for months to try to resolve their dispute, but no deal has materialized.
In February, Trump posted on social media that he would seek $1 billion in damages from the school. A few days later, the Defense Department severed academic ties with Harvard, and the Justice Department then sued Harvard for allegedly failing to produce admissions documents it said it needed in an investigation into whether the school discriminates against white applicants.
The latest lawsuit seeks a court-appointed monitor who would oversee compliance, among other remedies.
Write to Sadie Gurman at sadie.gurman@wsj.com and Douglas Belkin at Doug.Belkin@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 20, 2026 12:54 ET (16:54 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
