Overview
- Harvard filed a 49-page motion to dismiss Monday, May 18, saying the Justice Department’s March complaint relies on incidents from 2023–2024 and does not allege an ongoing Title VI violation.
- The DOJ in March accused Harvard of being “deliberately indifferent” to harassment of Jewish and Israeli students and asked the court for an outside monitor, a bar on future federal funding, and restitution or clawback of nearly $1 billion in federal grants.
- Harvard told the court it has enacted broad reforms since the 2023 protests, including new protest rules, expanded complaint processes, streamlined discipline, antisemitism training, and adoption of the IHRA definition in January 2025.
- U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns is overseeing the case after refusing to transfer it to Judge Allison D. Burroughs, whose earlier ruling struck down a prior federal funding freeze against Harvard.
- The outcome could reshape how Title VI is enforced and how far the federal government can use funding and retroactive relief to police campus conduct, with immediate consequences for students who say they faced exclusion, harassment, or threats on campus.