The Trump administration determined that Harvard University violated federal civil rights law by failing to address the harassment of Jewish students on campus, increasing the pressure on the Ivy League school as it negotiates a possible settlement with the White House.
The Justice Department sent a letter on Monday to Alan M. Garber, the president of Harvard, informing the school of the findings of its investigation. The department said the university ignored the concerns of Jewish and Israeli students who felt threatened during protests on campus over the war in Gaza, according to two people briefed on the letter who insisted on anonymity to discuss the determination.
The findings come about two months after a Harvard task force reported on “the alienating and hostile atmosphere that many Jewish and Israeli students at Harvard described experiencing, particularly in the 2023-24 academic year.”
The Wall Street Journal was first to report the Justice Department’s letter.
The Trump administration has targeted Harvard for months over accusations of antisemitism, but broadened its attacks in recent weeks to include investigations of discrimination against white men in student admissions policies. The government has also tried to limit the number of international students who can attend the university.
The administration has cut billions of dollars in federal research funding to the university, threatening its prestige and its financial standing.
Harvard did not immediately comment on Monday. But in recent weeks, university officials began talks with the government about a potential settlement. This latest notice from the government could represent an effort to gain greater leverage in those talks, a prelude to a formal, court-enforced settlement, or both.
The university has not publicly discussed potential settlement terms, though President Trump said on social media on June 20 that “if a Settlement is made on the basis that is currently being discussed, it will be ‘mindbogglingly’ HISTORIC, and very good for our Country.” He added that Harvard leaders “have acted extremely appropriately during these negotiations, and appear to be committed to doing what is right.”
The Justice Department’s move on Monday followed a similar finding in May of civil rights violations at Columbia University by the Health and Human Services Department. Like Harvard, Columbia had already been penalized with the termination of hundreds of millions in grants and contracts by the time the findings were announced.
The Trump administration has been trying to change the culture of American higher education by withholding federal funding, contending that some schools have become bastions of antisemitism and ideological indoctrination. A handful of elite universities, including Columbia and Harvard, have been particular targets, though the administration last week forced the resignation of the University of Virginia’s president over the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Several college presidents, including Dr. Garber of Harvard, have acknowledged shortcomings in their universities’ handling of anti-Israel protests. But they now view the administration’s demands to have more control over how students can be admitted, which teachers can be hired and what courses may be taught as a broader attack on academic freedom.
Michael C. Bender is a Times political correspondent covering President Trump, the Make America Great Again movement and other federal and state elections.
Alan Blinder is a national correspondent for The Times, covering education.
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