A US federal judge in Boston has dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Trump administration alleging that Harvard University failed to protect Jewish and Israeli students from harassment following the war in Gaza. U.S. District Judge Richard G. Stearns ruled on Thursday that the administration failed to plausibly show an ongoing violation of federal civil rights law on the university's campus.
The lawsuit, filed in March, claimed that Harvard turned a blind eye to antisemitism and discrimination against Jews and Israelis. However, Judge Stearns determined that the incidents cited by the Department of Justice were too isolated and episodic to prove that the university violated civil rights law during pro-Palestinian campus protests.
The decision marks a setback for the Trump administration's campaign against the oldest university in the United States. This legal challenge was one of several measures taken by the administration since President Trump's return to office, which have also included attempts to cancel billions of dollars in federal funds.