Federal judge dismisses Trump administration's Harvard admissions records lawsuit
A federal judge has dismissed the Trump administration's lawsuit seeking to force Harvard University to hand over admissions records. The decision, delivered on Monday, cited procedural deficiencies.
US District Judge Myong Joun ruled that the Justice Department had not adequately established that it followed the required procedures before suing for applicant-level admissions data, as part of an investigation into whether the Ivy League school still considers race in admissions.
The dismissal was issued without prejudice, leaving the door open for the administration to sue again if it fixes the procedural flaws the court identified. In his 10-page decision, Judge Joun wrote that the government may be able to identify a qualifying determination or cure the procedural deficiency, but it has not supplied a sufficient basis for the relief currently sought.
The Justice Department filed the lawsuit in February. It alleged that Harvard had failed to cooperate with a federal civil rights review examining whether the university's admissions practices comply with the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling limiting the use of race in college admissions.
The department alleged that Harvard repeatedly delayed producing requested documents and failed to provide individualized admissions records despite multiple requests and extended deadlines.
Announcing the lawsuit in February, then Attorney General Pam Bondi accused Harvard of withholding the information the government needed to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination.
Judge Joun acknowledged that federal officials had made repeated requests for records and had warned Harvard of potential enforcement action. But he found the court filings did not show that officials had notified Harvard of their intent to pursue litigation if it failed to comply, or adequately identified the specific compliance failure at issue.
The judge also found that the Department of Education had not sufficiently demonstrated that it followed its own required procedures before referring its separate admissions investigation for judicial enforcement.
According to Reuters, Harvard's attorneys argued the lawsuit was part of a broader retaliatory campaign by the Trump administration after the university resisted demands for changes to its governance and academic policies. The judge did not rule on Harvard's retaliation claims, stressing that his decision rested on procedural deficiencies rather than on whether the university had violated federal civil rights law.
