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Trump administration sues Harvard over alleged campus antisemitism

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The Trump administration on Friday filed a lawsuit against Harvard University, alleging it failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students by enabling anti-Semitism on campus following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

The 44-page lawsuit filed in Massachusetts is the latest in an ongoing battle between the White House and the Ivy League school. The complaint alleges that Harvard tolerated anti-Semitic mobs of students, faculty, and anti-Israel visitors and acted indifferently by selectively enforcing campus rules to allow the harassment to continue.

“Harvard University failed to protect its Jewish students from harassment and allowed discrimination to wreak havoc on campus,” a White House spokesperson told Fox News. “President Trump is committed to ensuring that every student can achieve their academic goals in a safe environment.”

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The Trump administration is trying to recover billions of taxpayer dollars from Harvard University with a new lawsuit against the elite institution. (Getty Images)

The administration is trying to claw back billions of taxpayer dollars given by federal agencies to the elite university.

“Since October 7, 2023, many of our educational institutions, including Harvard, have allowed anti-Semitism to thrive on campus,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Today’s lawsuit underscores the Trump Administration’s commitment to demanding better from our nation’s schools and ending discriminatory behavior that harms students.”

In a statement to Fox News Digital, a Harvard spokesperson said the university “cares deeply” about its Jewish and Israeli students and is committed to ensuring they are welcomed and respected.

sign reading "RED" next to someone who is "H"

Harvard Crimson sports crest on banners at the Harvard University Athletic Complex in Boston, Massachusetts, on Tuesday, May 27, 2025. (Sophie Park/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

“Our actions demonstrate this. Harvard has taken significant, proactive steps to address the root causes of antisemitism and is actively enforcing anti-harassment and anti-discrimination rules and policies on campus,” the statement said. “We have also improved education and training on antisemitism for students, faculty, and staff and initiated programs to encourage civil dialogue and respectful disagreement inside and outside the classroom. Harvard’s efforts demonstrate the exact opposite of willful indifference.”

The school said it would continue to prioritize such work and defend itself, calling the lawsuit “yet another act of pretext and retaliation by the administration that refuses to cede control of Harvard to the federal government.”

Friday’s lawsuit is another example of the protracted fight between Havard and President Donald Trump. In June, the administration said a civil rights investigation led to a formal finding that Harvard tolerated antisemitism.

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Palestinian supporters gather at Harvard University, holding banners and listening to speakers during a pro-Palestinian rally on campus.

Anti-Israel demonstrators gather with Palestinian flags at Harvard University for a rally on October 14, 2023 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. (Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty Images)

“Harvard has been willfully indifferent to a level of hostility on its campus that is so well known across the country that members of Congress are writing about it,” government lawyers wrote. “Harvard also deliberately refused to enforce campus rules—rules it enforces against others—when the victims were Jewish or Israeli. This sent a clear message to Harvard’s Jewish and Israeli community that the indifference was not an accident, that they were deliberately excluded and effectively denied equal access to educational opportunities.”

Last year, the school sued the Trump administration over the federal funding freeze. A judge blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to freeze Harvard’s federal funds.

The Internal Revenue Service was also considering revoking Harvard’s tax-exempt status.

Harvard is scheduled to receive more than $2.6 billion from the Department of Health and Human Services, the Justice Department said.

In February, the Trump administration said it was trying to recover $1 billion in damages from Harvard, the main target of its attempt to use federal funding to crack down on anti-Semitism on college campuses.