Lawletter Vol. 51 No. 4
Anne Hemenway—Senior Attorney
On August 13, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts dismissed the United States Department of Justice's ("DOJ") complaint against Harvard University, which had been filed on March 20, 2026. United States v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, No. 26-11352-RGS, __ F. Supp. 3d __, 2026 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 181060, 2026 WL 2343193 (D. Mass. Aug. 13, 2026). In that case, the DOJ alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000d et seq., based on three incidents that took place at Harvard during the 2023-2024 school year. However, the District Court concluded that those incidents were too isolated and episodic to support a noncompliance action under Title VI. While the government attempted to reposition itself and tried to support its claim with other more current violations, the court was not convinced, and granted Harvard's motion to dismiss.
Notably, this ruling came just one year after the same court had granted Harvard a preliminary injunction in its action against the federal government in President & Fellows of Harvard College v. United States Dep't of Homeland Security, 788 F. Supp. 3d 182 (D. Mass. 2025). In that lawsuit, Harvard argued that the United States's decision to withhold or terminate approximately $8.7 billion in federal research grants and funding constituted an unlawful retaliation and violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The government argued that its decision to withhold or threaten to withhold billions of dollars in research grants, most of which was intended to vital medical research, was necessary to fight antisemitism on campus. The lawsuit by Harvard was filed in response to the Government's imposition of wide-spread demands on the University as a condition to the restoration of the federal grants. These conditions were directed at Harvard's governance, hiring practices, and admissions policies.
On June 23, 2025, the District Court ruled against the Trump Administration in the Homeland Security case. It initially held that the Government's actions violated the Immigration and Nationality Act, 8 U.S.C. § 1101 et seq., and then went on to hold that the Government's pressure on Harvard to capitulate to its unwarranted demands impacting the University's hiring practices, governance, and student enrollment "squarely violates" Harvard's First Amendment rights. The court further held that the Government's tactics to pressure the University to accede to its demands had nothing to do with fighting antisemitism, as argued by the government, but were instead part of the Trump Administration's desire to assert its power and to promote its own political views. The Government filed an appeal on July 1, 2025, which is pending.
Importantly, beyond the specific dispute between the parties, the Federal Court also emphasized in its June 2025 decision that the federal judiciary is required to safeguard academic freedom and freedom of speech and to ensure the medical and scientific research is not subjected to arbitrary termination.
