Will Harvard Continue to Lead the Charge? - Part 143

From the Harvard Crimson: Harvard sharply rebuffed the Department of Justice’s lawsuit seeking its admissions records in a Tuesday court filing, accusing the Trump administration of prematurely escalating negotiations into litigation for political ends. In a 20-page response filed in the U.S District Court in Massachusetts, the University argued that the DOJ mischaracterized months of back-and-forth over document production and failed to follow required procedures under Title VI. The clash stems from the Trump administration’s investigation into whether Harvard has complied with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision banning the use of race in admissions. In its February complaint, the DOJ alleged Harvard “thwarted” and “slow walked” the inquiry by withholding key admissions data, placing Harvard in violation of Title VI and its obligations as a federal grant recipient.

Harvard disputed that account on Tuesday, writing that it produced more than 2,000 pages of records — including aggregate enrollment data, admissions policies, training materials, and internal guidance documents — and remained open to negotiations before the government filed suit. The Trump administration has sought extensive admissions data from Harvard. As part of its investigation, federal officials sought five years of applicant-level admissions data across Harvard College, Harvard Law School, and Harvard Medical School, including applicants’ grades, test scores, essays, extracurricular activities, admissions outcomes, and race and ethnicity...

The University’s alleged noncompliance is also under investigation by the Department of Education, which in March gave Harvard 20 days to provide the requested admissions records. A Harvard spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on whether the University submitted the data before the April 12 deadline. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Myong J. Joun, a Biden appointee, who previously granted a temporary restraining order blocking the Department of Education from canceling teacher-training grants — a decision that the Supreme Court later stayed in a 5-4 decision pending appeal...

Full story at https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/4/15/harvard-doj-admissions-suit-response/.