Justice Department Sues Harvard University Over Discrimination Against Jewish and Israeli Students
On March 20, 2026, the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts accusing Harvard University, in Cambridge, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, of race and national origin discrimination against Jewish and Israeli students in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The case was brought by the Educational Opportunities Section of the Civil Rights Division.
The complaint alleges that after Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, Harvard was deliberately indifferent to assaults, harassment and intimidation of Jewish and Israeli students on its campus, selectively enforced its campus rules, and failed to meaningfully discipline groups that occupied its buildings. Harvard's own Presidential Task Force on Combating Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias had found the exclusion of Israeli or Zionist students from social spaces and extracurricular activities, the department said. Federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin in schools that accept federal funding.
The department said 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 alone. The complaint seeks to compel Harvard to comply with Title VI and to recover the taxpayer funds it accepted while in violation. Attorney General Pamela Bondi, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon and HHS Office for Civil Rights Director Paula M. Stannard all issued statements supporting the suit. The allegations remain to be decided by the court.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于马萨诸塞州剑桥市哈佛园内的怀德纳图书馆雪景，哈佛大学是本案被告。Chris Rycroft 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: Widener Library in Harvard Yard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, in snow; Harvard University is the defendant in this case. Photo by Chris Rycroft, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
