❓WHAT HAPPENED: The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against Harvard University for allegedly hiding data about racial admissions.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The DOJ, led by Attorney General Pam Bondi, and Harvard University.
📍WHEN & WHERE: The lawsuit was filed on February 13, 2026, in federal district court in Massachusetts.
💬KEY QUOTE: “Providing requested data is a basic expectation of any credible compliance process, and refusal to cooperate creates concerns about university practices.” – Harmeet K. Dhillon
🎯IMPACT: The lawsuit seeks to compel Harvard to release admissions data to federal investigators, to ensure no discrimination against Asians, white people, and others, or unlawful prioritization of other groups.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Harvard University on Friday, accusing the Ivy League institution of unlawfully withholding admissions records needed to verify compliance with a Supreme Court ruling banning race-based affirmative action in college admissions. The complaint, lodged in federal court in Massachusetts, stems from a Civil Rights Division investigation launched in April 2025 into Harvard’s undergraduate, law, and medical school admissions processes.
The DOJ alleges that for over 10 months, despite repeated requests, warning letters, and extensions, Harvard has slow-walked responses and refused to provide key materials, including individualized applicant data such as test scores, GPAs, ratings, and demographics; current admissions policies; and documents related to race, ethnicity, diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, as well as those tied to the Supreme Court case Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Attorney General Pam Bondi stated: “Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice is demanding better from our nation’s educational institutions. Harvard has failed to disclose the data we need to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination — we will continue fighting to put merit over DEI across America.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon added: “Providing requested data is a basic expectation of any credible compliance process, and refusal to cooperate creates concerns about university practices. If Harvard has stopped discriminating, it should happily share the data necessary to prove it.”
The lawsuit does not accuse Harvard of current illegal discrimination or seek monetary damages or funding revocation. Instead, it aims to compel production of the records under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, citing Harvard’s receipt of federal funding, including DOJ grants, as creating obligations for cooperation. Harvard has produced over 2,300 pages of documents but is accused of withholding sufficient detail for a full review.
This action fits into broader Trump administration tensions with Harvard. In late 2025, the DOJ appealed a court ruling that restored more than $2 billion in federal funding to the university after it was temporarily cut over disputes involving campus responses to protests and policy demands.
The case has also drawn attention from internal critics. In a December 2025 essay, departing Harvard historian James Hankins described how DEI priorities appeared to disadvantage highly qualified white male applicants post-2020, including one instance where an admissions committee member reportedly said admitting a white male was “not happening this year.”
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