Trump Suffers Another Legal Setback in Escalating Harvard Battle - Newsweek
President Donald Trump has suffered another setback in his ongoing battle with Harvard University, after a federal judge on Monday dismissed the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking the university’s admissions records.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Harvard in February, accusing the university of refusing to comply with a federal investigation into the school’s admission decisions and seeking records to ensure the school stopped using affirmative action in admissions. A similar investigation from the Department of Education was later added to the case.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Myong Joun dismissed the case, finding the DOJ did not take the necessary procedural steps to obtain the data before filing the lawsuit.
"Before taking enforcement action under the statutory framework, the agency must advise the recipient of its failure to comply and determine that compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means," Joun wrote in the ruling.
But Joun, a Biden appointee, dismissed the case without prejudice, meaning it can be refiled.
"I decide a limited question: whether the Government has adequately established, at this stage and on the materials properly considered, that it satisfied the prerequisites to judicial enforcement invoked in this complaint," he wrote.
"The ruling does not determine whether Harvard has discriminated, whether the agencies may lawfully seek appropriately defined applicant-level data, or whether Harvard may ultimately be required to provide such data."
Newsweek has contacted the DOJ and Harvard for comment via emails sent outside regular hours.
In a statement to Newsweek, Education Department spokesperson Ellen Keast said: "Harvard’s rampant discrimination against teenage applicants was well-documented in a landmark Supreme Court case that will forever attach Harvard’s name to the illegal use of race preferences.
"When the government asked for admissions data to determine whether Harvard has changed its ways, the school refused and a Democrat-appointed judge is now shielding Harvard from accountability. Students should be judged on their merit and accomplishments, not the color of their skin, and the Trump Administration will work tirelessly to ensure Harvard abides by obligations to uphold the law."
The ruling marks the latest legal setback for the Trump administration in its ongoing fight with Harvard.
The administration has also suffered defeats in federals courts on issues including billions of dollars in funding cuts and a lawsuit accusing the university of antisemitism. The university became embroiled in a battle with the Trump administration after rejecting a series of demands for changes related to campus protests, academics and admissions last year.
The lawsuit over Harvard’s admissions records is part of a broader fight against colleges accused of considering race in admissions decisions. The Supreme Court in 2023 barred affirmative action in admissions, but said colleges could still consider how race has shaped students’ lives if applicants share that information in their admissions essays.
The DOJ opened a compliance review into Harvard’s admissions practices last year.
The agency told Harvard to hand over five years of admissions data for undergraduate applicants and applicants to the university’s medical and law schools.
It also asked Harvard for applicants’ grades, test scores, essays, extracurricular activities and admissions outcomes, as well as their race and ethnicity. The lawsuit said Harvard had not provided that data.
DOJ officials said they need the data to determine whether Harvard has continued considering applicants’ race in admissions decisions.
In March, 17 Democratic attorneys general sued the Trump administration over a new Department of Education policy requiring colleges and universities to submit data to prove they aren’t considering race in admissions. The suit targets nationwide agency rules, as distinct from the Harvard filing.
Trump ordered the new policy into effect in August last year, after he raised concerns that colleges and universities were using personal statements and other proxies to consider race, which he views as illegal discrimination.
The attorneys general who sued over the policy argued that the Department of Education had rushed the requirements into effect without complying with the law to target diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. They also argued the data collection risks invading student privacy and that universities have not been given enough time to collect the data. The Education Department defended the effort, arguing taxpayers deserve transparency on how money is spent at institutions that receive federal funding.
A federal judge in April granted a preliminary injunction while the case proceeds, saying the federal government likely has the authority to collect the data, but the demand was rolled out to universities in a "rushed and chaotic" manner.
"I am grateful the court acted swiftly to protect our public institutions while our case moves forward, and we will continue fighting to block this mandate for good," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement at the time.
