Trump Administration Sues Harvard, Demands More Admissions Data

Ryan J. Farrick — February 13, 2026

The Widener Library at Harvard University. Image via Wikimedia Commons. Originally posted by Flicker user Joseph Williams. (CCA-BY-2.0). (source:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Harvard_University_Widener_Library.jpg).

“The University will continue to defend itself against these retaliatory actions which have been initiated simply because Harvard refused to surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights in response to unlawful government overreach,” Harvard said in a statement released Friday.

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit claiming that Harvard refused to provide critical evidence in a U.S. Department of Justice investigating allegations that the university discriminated against students in its admissions decisions.

According to CNN, the Justice Department claims that, without this information, the federal government cannot proceed with its probe.

“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,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

Harvard, in turn, claims that it “has been responding to the government’s inquiries in good faith and continues to be willing to engage with the government according to the process required by law.”

CNN notes that the dispute arose earlier this month, when Harvard was notified by letter that the Department of Justice was “aware of allegations that your institution may have failed to protect Jewish students sand faculty members from unlawful discrimination.”

Gates to Harvard University. Image via Flickr/user:sackton. (CCA-BY-2.0).

The Trump administration has slashed or frozen billions of dollars in federal funding to Harvard, a decision that was overturned in another lawsuit but is currently be appealed by the government.

“The University will continue to defend itself against these retaliatory actions which have been initiated simply because Harvard refused to surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights in response to unlawful government overreach,” Harvard said in a statement released Friday.

The Justice Department is currently demanding access to at least seven years’ worth of detailed information about applicants to all of Harvard’s undergraduate programs, law school, and medical school. The request includes information on race, gender, citizenship status, and grades, and requests further clarification on how, if at all, “Diversity, Equity, and/or Inclusion initiatives and programs” have been used in the admissions process.

The lawsuit acknowledges that the university has shared more than 2,300 pages of documents, but states that Harvard has not yet provided details on individual students and applicants.

“It has slow-walked the pace of production and refused to provide pertinent documents relating to applicant-level admissions decisions,” the Trump administration’s lawsuit alleges.

Many of the government’s claims center on the wave of pro-Palestine protests that followed the October 7, 2023, terrorist attack against Israel, and that country’s subsequent air-and-ground assault on the Gaza Strip. Harvard has since admitted that the protests contained antisemitic elements; it recently released the results of task force reports on both anti-Jewish sentiment and on-campus Islamophobia.

The Justice Department says that these actions are insufficient.

“Providing requested data is a basic expectation of any credible compliance process, and refusal to cooperate creates concerns about university practices,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon said in a statement. “If Harvard has stopped discriminating, it should happily share the data necessary to prove it.”