Trump administration launches race-based discrimination probes of the
Harvard Law Review
[April 29, 2025]
By KIMBERLEE KRUESI
The Trump administration on Monday announced federal officials are
launching investigations into Harvard University and the Harvard Law
Review, saying authorities have received reports of race-based
discrimination “permeating the operations” of the journal.
The investigations come as Harvard fights a freeze on $2.2 billion in
federal grants the Trump administration imposed after the university
refused to comply with demands to limit activism on campus. A letter
sent to the university earlier this month called for the institution to
clarify its campus speech policies that limit the time, place and manner
of protests and other activities. It also demanded academic departments
at Harvard that “fuel antisemitic harassment” be reviewed and changed to
address bias and improve viewpoint diversity.
Monday marked the first time both sides met in court over the funding
fight. The investigations by the U.S. Department of Education and the
Department of Health and Human Services were announced separately on
Monday, with authorities saying they were investigating policies and
practices involving the journal's membership and article selection that
they argue may violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
According to the federal government, the editor of the Harvard Law
Review reportedly wrote that it was “concerning” that the majority of
the people who had wanted to reply to an article about police reform
"are white men.” A separate editor allegedly suggested “that a piece
should be subject to expedited review because the author was a
minority.”
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A sculler rows down the Charles River near Harvard University, at
rear, Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Cambridge, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles
Krupa)
“Harvard Law Review’s article selection process appears to pick
winners and losers on the basis of race, employing a spoils system
in which the race of the legal scholar is as, if not more, important
than the merit of the submission,” said Acting Assistant Secretary
for Civil Rights Craig Trainor in a statement. “Title VI’s demands
are clear: recipients of federal financial assistance may not
discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin. No
institution — no matter its pedigree, prestige, or wealth — is above
the law."
A spokesperson for Harvard Law said in a statement that a similar
claim was dismissed in 2018 by a federal court.
“Harvard Law School is committed to ensuring that the programs and
activities it oversees are in compliance with all applicable laws
and to investigating any credibly alleged violations," said Jeff
Neal. "The Harvard Law Review is a student-run organization that is
legally independent from the law school.”
Harvard is among multiple universities across the country where
pro-Palestinian protests erupted on campus amid the war in Gaza last
year. Republican officials have since heavily scrutinized those
universities, and several Ivy League presidents testified before
Congress to discuss antisemitism allegations. The Cambridge,
Massachusetts, institution was the fifth Ivy League school targeted
in a pressure campaign by the administration, which has also paused
federal funding for the University of Pennsylvania, Brown, and
Princeton universities seeking to force compliance with its agenda.
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