The U.S. Department of Justice announced that its Civil Rights Division lodged a new lawsuit against Harvard University, alleging that the Ivy League institution illegally withheld admissions material needed to decide whether the school is continuing to discriminate in the admissions process despite a 2023 Supreme Court ruling.
"Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice is demanding better from our nation’s educational institutions," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. "Harvard has failed to disclose the data we need to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination — we will continue fighting to put merit over DEI across America."
Harvard pushed back in a statement provided to Fox News Digital on Friday.
"Harvard is committed to following the law, including civil rights laws in connection with admissions and financial aid, and Harvard has complied with and continues to comply with the law under the Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) decision.
"Harvard has been responding to the government’s inquiries in good faith and continues to be willing to engage with the government according to the process required by law," the statement continued.
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"The University will continue to defend itself against these retaliatory actions which have been initiated simply because Harvard refused to surrender its independence or relinquish its constitutional rights in response to unlawful government overreach," the statement added.
The Justice Department explained that the lawsuit, which was filed on Thursday, "alleges that Harvard repeatedly slow-walked the pace of production and refused to produce pertinent data and documents requested by the DOJ, including individualized applicant admissions data, admissions policies, and correspondence related to race; ethnicity; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and Students for Fair Admissions."
"The suit alleges that Harvard — a recipient of DOJ funding — violated Title VI by failing to comply with the DOJ’s request for sufficient document production for compliance review," according to the DOJ. "The suit also notes that by failing to make timely and complete document productions or otherwise permitting the DOJ to access Harvard’s applicant-level admissions data, Harvard breached a material term of DOJ federal financial assistance."
The suit aims to force the school to turn over documents pertaining to the consideration of race in admissions, but "does not accuse Harvard of racial discrimination," according to the DOJ.
"The Justice Department will not allow universities to flout our nation’s federal civil rights laws by refusing to provide the information required for our review," Assistant Attorney General for the DOJ's Civil Rights Division Harmeet K. Dhillon noted in a statement. "Providing requested data is a basic expectation of any credible compliance process, and refusal to cooperate creates concerns about university practices. If Harvard has stopped discriminating, it should happily share the data necessary to prove it."
In a 2023 ruling, the Supreme Court objected to Harvard's and the University of North Carolina's consideration of race in admissions.
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"For the reasons provided above, the Harvard and UNC admissions programs cannot be reconciled with the guarantees of the Equal Protection Clause. Both programs lack sufficiently focused and measurable objectives warranting the use of race, unavoidably employ race in a negative manner, involve racial stereotyping, and lack meaningful end points. We have never permitted admissions programs to work in that way, and we will not do so today," the opinion declared.
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