By Nate Raymond and Jonathan Stempel
BOSTON, March 20 (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration escalated its attacks on Harvard University on Friday, as it sued the Ivy League school to recover billions of dollars for allegedly failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students.
Harvard has been a central focus of the president’s campaign to force changes at major U.S. universities, which Trump has derided for alleged antisemitic and “radical left” ideologies, by threatening to withhold or take back federal funding.
In a complaint filed in Boston federal court, the U.S. Department of Justice said Harvard remains “deliberately indifferent” to harassment of Jewish and Israeli students, and has intentionally refused to enforce its campus rules when victims are Jews or Israelis.
“This sent the clear message to Harvard’s Jewish and Israeli community that the indifference was not an accident; they were being intentionally excluded and effectively denied equal access to educational opportunities,” according to the complaint.
Harvard will defend against the lawsuit, which a spokesperson called “yet another pretextual and retaliatory action by the administration for refusing to turn over control of Harvard to the federal government.”
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based school also defended its efforts to address antisemitism on campus, which have included expanding training, improving disciplinary processes, and adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism.
“Harvard cares deeply about members of our Jewish and Israeli community and remains committed to ensuring they are embraced, respected, and can thrive on our campus,” the spokesperson said. “Harvard’s efforts demonstrate the very opposite of deliberate indifference.”
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS CHALLENGED OTHER SCHOOLS
Many schools have been accused by the Republican president’s administration, as well as in private lawsuits, of turning a blind eye to antisemitism on campus since the outbreak of war between Israel and Hamas in October 2023.
Among them has been Columbia University, which last July agreed to pay $220 million to restore federal research money. The Justice Department sued the University of California system last month for allegedly subjecting Jewish and Israeli employees at the University of California, Los Angeles to rampant antisemitism.
Most of Friday’s lawsuit recapitulates prior incidents and accusations involving Harvard, instead of offering new instances of alleged discrimination.
According to the complaint, Harvard’s indifference to Jews and Israelis violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bans discrimination based on race, color and national origin in programs receiving federal funding.
It came less than two months after Trump said his administration was seeking $1 billion from Harvard to settle probes into school policies, after a published report said Trump dropped a demand for only $200 million.
The administration also accused Harvard in a February 13 lawsuit of failing to produce documents for a probe into whether its admissions process was biased against white applicants.
U.S. District Judge Richard Stearns, an appointee of former Democratic President Bill Clinton, was assigned to Friday’s lawsuit.
HARVARD, WHITE HOUSE HAVE BATTLED MULTIPLE TIMES
It’s unclear how much the administration is seeking. The complaint said Harvard is set to receive more than $2.6 billion of taxpayer money from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services alone. Last June, that department’s Office of Civil Rights found Title VI violations.
The lawsuit seeks to recover all federal grants to Harvard during its noncompliance, and permission to freeze payments on existing grants.
It also seeks the appointment of a U.S.-approved independent outside monitor of Harvard’s compliance.
“Since October 7th, 2023, too many of our educational institutions have allowed antisemitism to flourish on campus – Harvard included,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “Today’s litigation underscores the Trump administration’s commitment to demanding better from our nation’s schools.”
The Trump administration and Harvard have battled in court multiple times, including litigation brought by Harvard itself.
Last September, U.S. District Judge Allison Burroughs in Boston ruled that the White House illegally canceled more than $2 billion of Harvard research grants.
Four months earlier, Burroughs blocked White House efforts to bar international students from attending classes at Harvard. The White House is appealing both decisions. Burroughs was appointed by former Democratic President Barack Obama.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Rod Nickel and Andrea Ricci)
