US Department Of Justice Sues Harvard University For Withholding Race-Related Admission Documents.

Washington DC; February 2026: The United States Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division (DOJ) filed a lawsuit today against Harvard University (Harvard), accusing Harvard of unlawfully withholding from the United States the admissions data information necessary to determine whether Harvard is continuing to discriminate in its admissions process, even after the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, this Department of Justice is demanding better from our nation’s educational institutions”, said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Harvard has failed to disclose the data we need to ensure that its admissions are free of discrimination; we will continue fighting to put merit over DEI across America”.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division has reiterated, “the Justice Department will not allow universities to flout our nation’s federal civil rights laws by refusing to provide the information required for our review. Providing requested data is a basic expectation of any credible compliance process, and refusal to cooperate creates concerns about university practices. If Harvard has stopped discriminating, it should happily share the data necessary to prove it”.

The lawsuit alleges that Harvard repeatedly slow-walked the pace of production and refused to produce pertinent data and documents requested by the DOJ, including individualised applicant admissions data, admissions policies, and correspondence related to race; ethnicity; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and Students for Fair Admissions. The suit further alleges that Harvard, a recipient of DOJ funding has violated Title VI by failing to comply with the DOJ’s request for sufficient document production for compliance review. The suit also notes that by failing to make timely and complete document productions or otherwise permitting the DOJ to access Harvard’s applicant-level admissions data, Harvard breached a material term of DOJ federal financial assistance.

The lawsuit seeks only to compel Harvard to produce documents related to any consideration of race in admissions and does not accuse Harvard of racial discrimination.

According to the suit filed by the Department of Justice on 13th February 2026; In April 2025, the Department initiated compliance reviews of Harvard’s undergraduate, medical-school, and law-school programs to determine whether Harvard continues to unlawfully discriminate against applicants for admission on the ground of race. But the Department is unable to determine whether Harvard is following the law.

Over ten months ago, the Department sought documents necessary to evaluate Harvard’s compliance with Title VI, including applicant-level admissions data. Harvard has not provided this information. Harvard’s refusal to cooperate with the Department’s investigation violates federal law. As a recipient of Department funding, Harvard is required by federal regulations and its own contract with the Department to cooperate with the Department’s compliance reviews.

But at every turn, Harvard has thwarted the Department’s efforts to investigate potential discrimination. It has slow-walked the pace of production and refused to provide pertinent documents relating to applicant-level admissions decisions. Harvard made its most recent production of admissions related documents in May 2025. The repeatedly extended deadlines for document production have long passed.

“Eliminating racial discrimination means eliminating all of it”. Id. at 206. The documents requested by the Department will help assess whether Harvard is complying with federal law or whether Harvard is defying Title VI and the Supreme Court’s ruling in SFFA. The United States of America therefore brings this civil action solely to compel Harvard to produce documents relating to any consideration of race in admission.

1. On 16th May 2025, upon responding to the DOJ compliance review petition, On May 16, 2025, Harvard made its initial production of documents.

a. Harvard produced 292 pages of documents concerning Harvard College. Most of these documents were publicly available, such as documents regarding Harvard College’s admissions process, financial aid policies, and statistical information on its student body.

b. Harvard produced 441 pages of documents concerning Harvard Law School. Most of these documents were publicly available, such as documents regarding Harvard Law School’s admissions process and financial aid policies.

c. Harvard produced 183 pages of documents concerning Harvard Medical School. Most of these documents were publicly available, such as documents regarding Harvard Medical School’s admissions process and aggregated statistical information about the student body.

• Harvard failed to produce many of the documents requested by the Department. Most notably, its May 16 production did not include applicant-level admissions data and documents.

• Harvard made its second production on May 30, two weeks after the May 16 deadline had passed.

a. Harvard produced 106 pages of documents concerning Harvard College, including guidelines for admissions personnel and aggregated admissions data for years 2022–2024.

b. Harvard produced 686 pages of documents concerning Harvard Law School, including guidelines for admissions personnel and aggregated enrollment data for years 2022–2024.

c. Harvard produced 595 pages of documents concerning Harvard Medical School, including guidelines and instructional material provided to its admissions personnel for years 2022–2025, aggregated admissions data for years 2022-2024, and an internal memo concerning its admissions policy in light of SFFA.

• The aggregated admissions data includes demographic statistics of Harvard’s admissions pools and incoming classes as a whole but does not include individual-level applicant data, such as each applicant’s race, GPA, and MCAT score.

• Like the May 16 production, the May 30 production did not include the requested applicant-level admissions data and documents.

• On September 8, 2025, the Department informed Harvard that its production of documents relating to Harvard Medical School was insufficient. Specifically, although the Department requested “any and all documents guiding medical school admissions policies and procedures, including any documents related to the use or lack of use of race in evaluating applicants” and “all admissions data for the past five academic years”, Harvard provided only “aggregated admissions data”, not the requested “individual-level applicant data”. Ex. G at 1–2.

• The September 8 letter provided considerable details about the applicant-level admissions data the Department seeks. It included a request for a “searchable electronic spreadsheet” containing individual-level data such as applicants’ race and ethnicity, economic indicators, undergraduate class rank and GPA, MCAT scores, internal ratings, and “Holistic Review” factors and ratings. Ex. G at 3–5.

• The Department also requested that Harvard provide documents relating to admissions policies for Harvard Medical School, including correspondence related to race; ethnicity; diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”); and SFFA. Id. at 6–7. The Department warned Harvard that failure to provide responsive documents could result in an enforcement action. Id. at 2.

• On September 12, 2025, the Department sent a similar letter explaining that Harvard failed to produce individualised admissions data for applicants to Harvard College. The letter provided considerable details about the applicant-level admissions data the Department seeks. It included a request for a “searchable electronic spreadsheet” containing individual-level data such as applicants’ race and ethnicity, racial and ethnic demography of their high schools and zip codes, grade point averages, recruited athlete status, employment history, financial aid offerings, interviewer ratings, and internal ratings. Ex. H at 3–5. The Department also requested that Harvard provide documents relating to admissions policies for Harvard College, including correspondence related to race, ethnicity, DEI, and SFFA. Id. at 6–7. The Department again warned Harvard that failure to provide responsive documents could result in an enforcement action. Id. at 2.

1. The September 8 letter requested that Harvard produce responsive documents concerning Harvard Medical School by September 29. Ex. G at 2. The September 12 letter requested that Harvard produce responsive documents concerning Harvard College by October 6. Ex. H at 2.

1. After discussions with Harvard’s counsel, the Department agreed to one final extension of the deadline for production of Harvard Medical School documents until October 10, even though the United States first requested the admissions data nearly six months earlier. Ex. I at 1. The Department stated that it would not “agree to any further extensions” and warned Harvard that failure to produce “all of the requested data by October 10th” would be viewed as a failure “to cooperate with the United States’ compliance review”. Id.

1. Harvard asked for an extension to October 17 to produce Harvard College data. Ex. J at 1. The Department agreed to extend the deadline for production of Harvard College documents to the same date as the Harvard Medical School deadline, October 10. Id

1. Harvard did not produce the requested data by October 10, 2025.

1. Harvard still has not produced any documents in response to the Department’s September 8 and September 12 letters and has not provided any explanation for its failure to meet the October 10 (or October 17) deadlines. Its most recent production on admissions practices was on May 30.

Team Maverick.