Stearns Keeps DOJ Antisemitism Suit Against Harvard, Rejects Bid to Tie Case to Funding Dispute

U.S. District Court Judge Richard G. Stearns rejected Harvard’s effort to position the Justice Department’s latest lawsuit as a redux of its federal funding dispute, saying the new case bore more resemblance to two prior antisemitism claims.

The brief, one-paragraph order is a procedural win for the Trump administration, settling a back-and-forth between Harvard and the DOJ over whether the March lawsuit — which alleges the University violated Title VI in its response to campus antisemitism — is “related” to other private antisemitism litigation.

It also ensures that Stearns, who oversaw the earlier antisemitism suits, will continue to preside.

Harvard had argued the lawsuit was effectively part of its broader dispute with the federal government, accusing the Trump administration of targeting the University under the guise of enforcing civil rights law. On those grounds, the University sought to link the case to its prior funding lawsuit, which was decided by U.S. District Judge Allison D. Burroughs.

Burroughs ruled in Harvard’s favor in that case, writing that the government’s actions amounted to a politically motivated effort masked as concern over antisemitism.

Stearns rejected Harvard’s argument, instead pointing to similarities between the DOJ’s claims and earlier lawsuits brought by private plaintiffs alleging the University failed to adequately respond to antisemitism on campus.

Legal experts said the ruling is procedural and does not signal how Stearns may ultimately decide the case.

“It’s not surprising that he’d decide to keep the government’s case in his courtroom rather than kick it over to the judge who presided over the non-Title VI challenge that Harvard brought,” George Washington law professor Matt Nosanchuk wrote in a statement.

“It would be premature to view Judge Stearns’ order as tipping his hand as to the merits of the government’s case,” he added.

Others questioned the strength of the government’s claims.

Benjamin Eidelson, a Harvard Law School professor, said grouping the lawsuit with prior Title VI cases does not make it more likely to succeed and predicted it could ultimately be dismissed.

“Treating this as related to the prior Title VI cases isn’t too surprising and doesn’t suggest this one has any merit,” Eidelson wrote in a statement.

The dispute started in March, when the DOJ issued a 44-page complaint that accused the University of violating civil rights law by failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students in the aftermath of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The complaint draws directly on two earlier antisemitism lawsuits — one filed by Harvard Divinity School graduate Alexander “Shabbos” Kestenbaum and another by the Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under the Law.

Both cases were previously heard by Stearns, who allowed portions of the claims — including those centered on “deliberate indifference” — to proceed.

Harvard has argued otherwise, saying the lawsuit is yet another attempt by the Trump administration to attack Harvard’s independence “under the guise” of Title VI — and thus should be tied to the University’s own federal funding lawsuit.

But Stearns sided with the Trump administration on Friday, finding “the overlap of factual and legal issues is much greater” between the DOJ lawsuit and the two antisemitism cases than the funding case.

Still, legal experts have said it will be difficult for the DOJ to sustain a “deliberate indifference” claim against Harvard. To do so, the government must prove that students suffered pervasive harassment and that the University’s response was entirely lacking — a high bar.

Stearns himself dismissed a suit brought by Business School student Yoav Segev claiming “deliberate indifference” last December, following binding precedent that rhetoric commonly associated with pro-Palestine protests was not inherently discriminatory and antisemitic.

No date has yet been set to hear arguments in the federal suit against the University.

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at hcc.35. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at elisespenner.82. Follow her on X @EliseSpenner.