OMM Newsroom
A federal judge on Monday dismissed a Trump administration lawsuit seeking to compel Harvard University to turn over detailed admissions records as part of a federal investigation into alleged racial discrimination.
US District Judge Myong J. Joun of the District of Massachusetts dismissed the case without prejudice, finding that the federal government had not adequately shown it followed required administrative procedures before seeking judicial enforcement, Anadolu Agency reported.
Joun said the Department of Justice had not sufficiently established that it notified Harvard of the specific compliance failures and the enforcement action it intended to pursue before filing the lawsuit.
The Department of Education also failed to show that it had completed the required steps to secure voluntary compliance before referring the matter for judicial enforcement.
The lawsuit sought detailed, applicant-level admissions information from Harvard, including academic records, race and ethnicity data, essays and admissions decisions. The requests were part of federal reviews examining whether the university complied with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The judge said federal agencies must follow established statutory and regulatory procedures before asking courts to enforce administrative information demands.
The dismissal does not prevent the Trump administration from filing another lawsuit after addressing the procedural deficiencies identified by the court.
Joun also made clear that his decision does not determine whether Harvard must ultimately provide the requested admissions records or whether the government’s demands are legally justified.
The ruling is a procedural setback for the administration’s efforts to obtain Harvard’s admissions data, while the underlying federal investigation into the university’s admissions practices remains unresolved.
