Judge throws out Trump administration lawsuit demanding Harvard admissions data, on procedural grounds

A federal judge in Boston on Monday dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to force Harvard University to hand over records for an investigation into whether it still considers race in admissions, CNBC reported, in copy matching Reuters. CNN and Bloomberg Law also reported the dismissal.

The ruling

US District Judge Myong Joun agreed with Harvard that the department sued without taking all legally required steps to secure voluntary compliance first. He wrote that the complaint "does not allege that DOJ informed Harvard of the action it would take, namely, litigation, should Harvard fail to comply, nor does the complaint allege the specific failure identified."

Joun stressed the decision rested on narrow procedural grounds. It does not resolve whether Harvard has discriminated or whether it may ultimately have to provide the data, and the department could bring a similar case again after taking additional administrative steps.

What the government wanted

The department filed the case in February, arguing Harvard was not complying with investigations into whether it follows the Supreme Court's 2023 ruling ending race-conscious admissions. It sought years of applicant-level data on thousands of students to assess compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Harvard said the suit was retaliation for refusing demands to overhaul its governance, hiring and academic programs, and noted it was filed after Trump ended settlement talks and said he wanted $1 billion in damages.

The numbers in the background

Data Harvard released last week showed Black undergraduate enrollment fell for a third straight year since the Supreme Court barred race-conscious admissions, to 9.3% of the class of 2030 from 11.5% of the class of 2029, per CNBC.

Per the same report, Harvard has already won rulings against the administration's efforts to terminate more than $2 billion in grants, to block it from hosting international students, and to sue it over alleged failures to protect Jewish and Israeli students. The Justice Department and Harvard had not immediately commented.

Why it matters beyond Cambridge

Universities receive large amounts of federal research money, and the case is one of several tests of how far the government can go in demanding data and compliance. This ruling narrowly sets out the steps it must follow first. It is a legal-process story, not a decision on the merits.

Sources: CNBC; CNN, Reuters and Bloomberg Law for confirmation of the dismissal.