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A federal judge on Monday dismissed a lawsuit by the Trump administration seeking to compel Harvard University to hand over detailed admissions records as part of a federal investigation into alleged racial discrimination.
U.S. District Judge Myong J. Joun of the District of Massachusetts dismissed the case without prejudice, finding that the federal government had failed to adequately demonstrate that it followed the required administrative procedures before seeking judicial enforcement.
In his ruling, Joun found that the Department of Justice had not sufficiently established that it notified Harvard of the specific compliance failures and the enforcement action it intended to pursue before filing the lawsuit.
The Department of Education also failed to demonstrate that it had completed the required steps to secure voluntary compliance before referring the matter for judicial enforcement.
The Department of Justice had accused Harvard of obstructing efforts to look into possible discrimination and refusing to cooperate with a federal investigation, asking the court to order the university to release the records.
The lawsuit sought detailed applicant-level admissions information from Harvard, including academic records, race and ethnicity data, essays and admissions decisions. The requests were part of federal reviews examining whether the university complied with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Federal officials said they needed the data to determine whether Harvard still considers race in admissions, after the Supreme Court struck down affirmative action in 2023.
The judge emphasized that federal agencies must follow established statutory and regulatory procedures before asking courts to enforce administrative information demands.
The dismissal, however, does not prevent the Trump administration from filing another lawsuit after addressing the procedural deficiencies identified by the court.
Joun also made clear that his decision does not resolve whether Harvard must ultimately provide the requested admissions records or whether the government's demands are legally justified.
The ruling represents a procedural setback for the administration's efforts to obtain Harvard's admissions data while leaving the underlying federal investigation into the university's admissions practices unresolved.
The decision marks the latest court defeat for the administration in its broader dispute with Harvard, including legal battles over billions of dollars in funding cuts and a lawsuit accusing the university of antisemitism.
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