Harvard Asks Judge to Toss Admissions Lawsuit, Citing Procedural Failures

Harvard’s lawyers urged a federal judge Thursday to dismiss a Justice Department lawsuit seeking individual applicant data, arguing that the government failed to follow required procedures before suing the University in February.

U.S. District Judge Myong J. Joun repeatedly pressed government lawyers over whether the Justice Department had made a sufficient effort to negotiate with Harvard before filing suit, at one point characterizing the government’s position as an “ultimatum.”

The DOJ sued Harvard under Title VI in February, arguing that the University failed to produce applicant-level admissions data needed to investigate whether Harvard has continued to consider race in admissions after the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions in 2023. The lawsuit does not itself accuse Harvard of discriminating in admissions, instead seeking to compel Harvard to turn over records for its investigation.

The Thursday hearing marked the first oral arguments in the case after a hearing initially scheduled for Sept. 9 was postponed. Both Harvard and the DOJ argued that the other had not been open to negotiating the scope of applicant data to be turned over to the government.

In May, the DOJ widened the scope of the suit to fold in allegations from a parallel Education Department probe.

The government has demanded a wide range of individualized admissions records, including applicants’ grades, race, test scores, admissions outcomes, and internal evaluations. On Thursday, government lawyers said they needed the applicant-level data Harvard uses to select its incoming classes, rather than aggregate statistics.

Government lawyers also pointed to medical school interviews as information that could help investigators determine what characteristics Harvard emphasized in evaluating applicants.

Legal experts have previously raised questions about whether the government’s requests could conflict with privacy protections and Harvard’s First Amendment rights.

Harvard asked Joun to dismiss the suit in June, arguing that the government’s demands were overbroad and irrelevant and were issued for an improper purpose.

The University’s lawyers focused Thursday on their argument that Title VI requires agencies to attempt to secure voluntary compliance before taking enforcement action. They argued that the government had taken an “absolutist position” and failed to meaningfully engage with Harvard’s offers to provide some records.

In an April response, Harvard’s lawyers wrote that the University had already handed over more than 2,000 pages of records and accused the Justice Department of effectively cutting off negotiations last October.

The government disputed that account Thursday, arguing that it tried again to negotiate over applicant data after Oct. 10, 2025 — while Harvard was in negotiations with the federal government over its funding freeze lawsuit — but that Harvard continued to withhold applicant-level data.

Joun appeared skeptical of the government’s account, saying that, given the resulting lawsuit, its effort “doesn’t appear to be a negotiation.”

Harvard’s lawyers said that the University had provided information including descriptions of how it implemented the Supreme Court’s ruling and copies of guidance given to admissions officers. But they argued that the DOJ was demanding an “astonishing range of detailed information.”

“These are very sensitive materials,” Stuart Delery, a lawyer for Harvard, said, adding that “it is true the government can have access to certain applicant material when appropriate.”

“Harvard has its own legal reasons to protect the data,” Delery added.

The government’s lawyers argued that aggregate statistics were not sufficient to determine whether race continued to play a role in Harvard’s admissions process. Applicant-level data, they said, would allow investigators to compare admissions outcomes against characteristics including grades, test scores, and internal evaluations.

Harvard has also argued that the admissions lawsuit is part of what it has described as a broader retaliatory campaign against the University by the Trump administration.

University lawyers pointed Thursday to a Feb. 2 Truth Social post, made less than two weeks before the lawsuit was filed, in which President Donald Trump called for “One Billion Dollars in damages” from Harvard after negotiations between the University and the federal government broke down.

The government has rejected Harvard’s contention that the lawsuit was filed for an improper purpose and maintained that the data is necessary to determine whether the University is complying with federal civil rights law.

The lawsuit comes as pressure from the Trump administration has already begun to change Harvard’s admissions practices. Since the government took aim at the University’s diversity programming in April 2025, the College has shuttered its centers for Women and BGLTQ Life, and removed the Undergraduate Minority Recruitment Program from the admissions office.

The admissions office also imposed restrictions on alumni interviewers to bar them from referencing race or ethnicity in their reports — a move that the alumni have pushed back on.

Harvard also did not release admissions statistics when it admitted the Class of 2030 in March, marking the second consecutive year that the data was not released alongside admissions decisions. Beginning with the Class of 2029, Harvard moved its annual publication of admissions statistics to the fall, after students enroll and the University completes mandatory federal reporting.

The changes follow years of litigation over Harvard’s admissions practices, culminating in the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against the University in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

Joun did not rule on Harvard’s motion to dismiss Thursday and did not indicate when he would issue a decision.

—Staff writer Celine Muir can be reached at [email protected] or Signal at celinem.33. Follow her on X @celinemuir1.

—Staff writer Alexa M. Schmitt can be reached at [email protected] or Signal at alexaschmitt.15. Follow her on X ​​@alexa_m15_s.