US launches more probes into Harvard for using race-based preferences in admissions

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration said on Monday it launched two additional probes against Harvard University in its latest escalation against the Ivy League school and other top US universities.

The US Education Department said its civil rights office “opened two new investigations into Harvard University amid allegations that it continues to discriminate against students on the basis of race, color, and national origin” in violation of federal law.

The latest probes will look into whether Harvard uses race-based preferences in admissions after the US Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling that ended affirmative action in higher education, and into allegations of antisemitism on Harvard’s campus, the Education Department said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump has attempted to crack down on universities and freeze their federal funds over pro-Palestinian protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, transgender policies, climate programs and diversity initiatives, leading to concerns over academic freedom, free speech and due process.

Efforts to freeze federal funds have faced legal and judicial roadblocks.

Last week, the administration sued Harvard to recover billions of dollars over allegedly failing to protect Jewish students, saying its leadership did not address antisemitism on campus, creating grounds for the government to freeze existing grants and seek repayment for grants already paid.

In the complaint, the US Justice Department accused Harvard of remaining deliberately indifferent to hostility on its campus and intentionally refusing to enforce its campus rules when victims are Jews or Israelis.

Harvard task forces released reports last year saying Jewish and Muslim students at the university had faced bigotry and abuse.

A Harvard spokesperson said on Monday that the school is “firmly committed to confronting antisemitism” and has taken steps aimed at “preventing harassment and discrimination.”

Harvard does not discriminate on grounds of race, the spokesperson said, and complies with the law in admissions practices, including the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision.

“We are reviewing the US Department of Education’s latest actions, which represent the government’s latest retaliatory actions against Harvard for its refusal to surrender our independence and constitutional rights,” the spokesperson said.

The Trump administration also separately sued Harvard in February, accusing it of failing to comply with a federal investigation, while also seeking documents to determine whether the university considered race in its admissions process.

A deal to resolve the Trump administration’s probes against Harvard remains elusive.

Education advocates have urged universities to push back against government efforts to collect more admissions data, saying they could lead to privacy violations. A former official from US president Joe Biden’s administration described it as “a tool for anti-civil rights enforcement.”

Trump has in particular cast pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel protests as antisemitic and alleged that universities, including Harvard, allowed antisemitism on campus.

Since he took office, Trump has targeted elite universities he believes are overrun by left-wing ideology and antisemitism, which has spiked on university campuses across the US since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, onslaught against Israel started the war in Gaza. His administration has frozen billions of dollars in research grants, which colleges have come to rely on for scientific and medical research.

Several universities have reached agreements with the White House to restore funding. Some deals have included direct payments to the government, including $200 million from Columbia University. Brown University agreed to pay $50 million toward state workforce development groups.

Academic experts have raised alarm over parts of those agreements, saying they set a precedent for “pay-to-play” deals.