Trump Administration Adds Pressure on Harvard Over Civil Rights

July 31, 2025, 4:52 PM UTC

The Trump administration said Harvard University is still refusing to obey federal civil rights law, increasing pressure over the school’s alleged failure to address antisemitic harassment on campus since Israel’s response to the 2023 attack by Hamas prompted pro-Palestine student protests.

The Department of Health and Human Services said it asked the Department of Justice to take enforcement action against Harvard, claiming the university refused to voluntarily comply with civil rights law.

HHS “determined that voluntary compliance cannot be secured by voluntary means,” Paula Stannard, the director of the agency’s Office for Civil Rights, said in the letter sent Wednesday ...

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