DOJ Sues Harvard University for Antisemitism

DOJ Civil Rights Press Releases

Filed March 20th, 2026

Detected March 20th, 2026

Summary

The Department of Justice has filed a lawsuit against Harvard University for alleged discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The suit claims Harvard has been deliberately indifferent to antisemitic harassment and has failed to enforce its campus rules.

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What changed

The Department of Justice, through its Civil Rights Division, has filed a lawsuit against Harvard University in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The lawsuit alleges that Harvard has violated Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating against Jewish and Israeli students. Specifically, the complaint asserts that Harvard has tolerated antisemitic mobs, harassment, and intimidation of Jewish and Israeli students following the October 7, 2023 attacks, and has been deliberately indifferent to this hostile environment. It also claims Harvard has failed to meaningfully discipline students involved in occupying campus buildings and has selectively enforced campus rules, permitting such conduct to continue.

This action requires Harvard to comply with Title VI and to address the alleged failures to protect its Jewish and Israeli students. The lawsuit seeks to compel Harvard to adhere to federal law prohibiting race, color, or national origin discrimination in federally funded educational programs. Given Harvard's receipt of over $2.6 billion in active federal grants, the implications for its continued federal funding and operational compliance are significant. Compliance officers at educational institutions receiving federal funding should monitor this case for potential implications regarding their own obligations under Title VI to prevent and address discrimination and harassment.

What to do next

Review institutional policies and procedures for preventing and addressing antisemitism and other forms of discrimination.
Ensure consistent and meaningful enforcement of campus rules related to harassment and intimidation.
Assess compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for all federally funded educational programs.

Penalties

The lawsuit seeks to compel Harvard to comply with Title VI and recover damages, implying potential loss of federal funding or other sanctions if found in violation.

Source document (simplified)

News

Press Release

Justice Department Sues Harvard University for Antisemitism

Friday, March 20, 2026

Share For Immediate Release Office of Public Affairs Today, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division filed a lawsuit against Harvard University for race and national origin discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

After Hamas’ attacks on October 7, 2023, Harvard has tolerated antisemitic mobs of students, faculty, and visitors allegedly expressing their opposition to Israel by assaulting, harassing, and intimidating Jewish and Israeli students with perceived racial, ethnic, and national connections to Israel. Harvard has been deliberately indifferent to its Jewish and Israeli students’ plight and failed to prevent such conduct by selectively enforcing its campus rules to permit it to continue. Harvard ignored what its own Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias deemed the “exclusion of Israeli or Zionist students from social spaces and extracurricular activities.” Harvard failed to meaningfully discipline the mobs that occupied its buildings and terrorized its Jewish and Israeli students. Federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in schools that accept federal funding.

“Since October 7th, 2023, too many of our educational institutions have allowed anti-Semitism to flourish on campus – Harvard included,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Today’s litigation underscores the Trump Administration’s commitment to demanding better from our nation’s schools and putting an end to discriminatory behavior that harms students.”

“Every student deserves to learn without fear of harassment or exclusion,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. “When institutions take taxpayer dollars, they accept a duty to protect civil rights. We hold Harvard accountable on the principle that antisemitism has no place in any program funded by the American people.”

“This Department of Justice will not tolerate the harassment, assault, or intimidation of Jewish and Israeli students, and neither should Harvard,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “This Justice Department has no tolerance for such brazen violations of federal law.”

“When OCR notified Harvard of the Title VI violation, we recognized Harvard’s public commitment to address antisemitism, but found its proposed reforms did not meet Title VI requirements,” said Paula M. Stannard, Director of the Department of Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR). “OCR required concrete action, not assurances. We commend the U.S. Department of Justice for pursuing this case.”

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleges that Harvard has failed to protect its Jewish and Israeli students in two ways. First, Harvard has continued to be deliberately indifferent to a level of hostility on its campus so well-known across the nation that members of Congress were writing about it. Second, Harvard has refused to enforce its campus rules against students who harass their Jewish and Israeli peers.

Harvard is currently set to receive more than $2.6 billion of taxpayer money under active grants from the Department of Health and Human Services, to say nothing of other federal agencies. The United States’ complaint seeks to compel Harvard to comply with Title VI, and to recover the taxpayer funds that Harvard accepted while in violation of Title VI.

This case is brought by the Educational Opportunities Section of the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division.

You can view the complaint here.

Updated March 20, 2026 Components Office of the Attorney General Civil Rights Division Civil Rights - Educational Opportunities Section Press Release Number: 26-274