Federal judge tosses Trump admin Harvard admissions lawsuit, leaves door open to future challenge

A federal judge has thrown out the Trump administration's suit demanding that Harvard University hand over admissions records, though the ruling does not end the matter. U. S. District Judge Myong Joun found that the Justice Department had not shown it completed the steps required before going to court for applicant-level data. Because the dismissal was without prejudice, the government can refile if it fixes those gaps, according to Fox News.

The department sued in February as part of a civil rights inquiry into whether Harvard still weighs race in admissions, following the Supreme Court's 2023 decision restricting the practice. It said the university repeatedly slowed its production of documents and never supplied individualized admissions records, even after several requests and longer deadlines. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time that Harvard had not disclosed the data needed to confirm its admissions were free of discrimination.

Joun agreed that officials had asked many times for the records and had cautioned Harvard that enforcement could follow. Even so, he concluded that the government's filings did not demonstrate that it had met the prerequisites for judicial intervention.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →