The Trump administration sued Harvard University on Friday, accusing the school of violating the civil rights of Jewish and Israeli people, an escalation of the government’s yearlong clash with the Ivy League university.
The administration has spent months investigating Harvard and trying to force a settlement on the university, the largest target in the White House’s campaign to remake American higher education. But the lawsuit Friday — more than six months after a judge blocked the administration’s opening push to strip Harvard of federal research funding — represented a new threat to the nation’s wealthiest university.
In its lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Boston, the Trump administration said that Harvard had “turned a blind eye to antisemitism and discrimination against Jews and Israelis.”
“The United States cannot and will not tolerate these failures and brings this action to compel Harvard to comply with Title VI, and to recover billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies awarded to a discriminatory institution,” the suit added.
Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In the past, Harvard leaders have acknowledged problems during protests over the war in Gaza, but have also said they moved to address those issues.
The lawsuit marks the second time in less than a month that the administration has sued a university over civil rights violations.
Last month, the Justice Department said the University of California, Los Angeles, had tolerated “grossly antisemitic acts and systematically ignored cries for help from its own terrified Jewish and Israeli employees.”
The Justice Department said that U.C.L.A. had “turned a blind eye” — the same phrase used in Friday’s lawsuit against Harvard.
This is a breaking story. Please check back for updates.
Michael C. Bender is a Times correspondent in Washington.
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