The Trump administration is suing Harvard over allegations of infidelity on campus

The Trump administration filed a lawsuit Friday against Harvard University, saying it failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students by enabling antisemitism on campus after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

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 has tolerated anti-Semitic mobs formed by students, faculty members and visitors who are anti-Israel and has acted recklessly by selectively enforcing its own campus rules to allow the harassment to continue.

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

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The administration wants to get back billions of taxpayer dollars given to the elite university by federal agencies.

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

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

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

“Our actions reflect this. Harvard has taken strong, proactive steps to address the root causes of misconduct and actively enforces laws and policies against harassment and discrimination on campus,” the statement said. “We have also improved training and education about antisemitism for students, faculty, and staff and introduced programs to encourage civil dialogue and respectful disagreement inside and outside the classroom. Harvard’s efforts show the very opposite of willful indifference.”

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

Friday’s case is another in a long-running battle between Harvard and President Donald Trump. In June, the administration said a civil rights investigation had led to formal findings that Harvard was tolerating unethical practices.

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

“Harvard has so deliberately ignored the level of hostility on its nationally recognized campus that members of Congress have been writing about,” the government’s lawyers wrote. “Harvard also deliberately refused to enforce its own campus rules – rules that were enforced on others – when the victims were Jews or Israelis. This sent a clear message to the Jewish community at Harvard and in Israel that indifference was not dangerous; they were being deliberately excluded and effectively denied equal access to educational opportunities.”

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

The Internal Revenue Service was also considering stripping Harvard of its tax-exempt status.

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

In February, the Trump administration said it wanted to return $1 billion to Harvard, a major goal in its effort to use federal funding to fight discrimination on college campuses.

Anti-Israel protesters spotted at Harvard. (Getty Images)

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. he said that institutions that take taxpayers’ money have a responsibility to protect the rights of the people.

“We hold Harvard accountable for the principle that anti-Semitism has no place in any program funded by the American people,” he said.