Judge dismisses Harvard data fight over procedural errors

The federal dispute over Harvard University's admissions records ended abruptly on Monday when a judge threw out the Justice Department's lawsuit. The case centered on a demand for student data to verify that the Ivy League school stopped using race in its selection process.

U.S. District Judge Myong Joun found that the government skipped a necessary legal step. Before filing the suit, the agency was required to notify Harvard of its non-compliance and attempt to secure the data voluntarily. Joun wrote that the Justice Department did not complete these actions.

The Justice Department had accused Harvard of blocking its investigation. The agency argued that the university refused to turn over the requested records, which would have allowed officials to check for potential discrimination in admissions decisions.

Joun clarified that his ruling only addresses the procedural history of the case. He stated that the decision does not settle whether Harvard discriminated, whether the government can legally seek applicant-level data, or if the university will eventually have to provide those files.

The fight over the data began in 2025 when the Justice Department launched a compliance review. Officials demanded five years of records for undergraduate, medical, and law school applicants. The request included grades, test scores, essays, extracurriculars, and racial and ethnic data.

This ruling adds to a series of legal setbacks for the administration in its ongoing conflict with Harvard. The government has previously lost court battles involving billions of dollars in funding cuts and a lawsuit accusing the university of antisemitism.

The dispute sits within a wider campaign against colleges accused of considering race in admissions. In October, the Justice Department found that the University of California, Los Angeles law school illegally used race in admissions, following a similar finding against its medical school. The administration has also accused UC Berkeley Law School and the UC San Diego medical school of discriminating against white and Asian applicants.