{"id":80024,"date":"2026-04-10T01:12:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:12:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=80024"},"modified":"2026-04-10T01:12:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:12:51","slug":"trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration\u2019s lawsuits against Harvard and UCLA have roots in a decades\u2011old fight over civil rights law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-80025\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/handsofHigherEd.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"680\" height=\"453\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/handsofHigherEd.jpg 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/handsofHigherEd-250x167.jpg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Department of Justice\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/newshour\/education\/justice-department-sues-ucla-alleging-school-failed-to-protect-jewish-employees-from-hostility?\">announced in March 2026<\/a>\u00a0that it is\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/homenews\/education\/5798173-trump-harvard-ucla-antisemitism\/\">suing Harvard University and the University of California, Los Angeles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The lawsuits\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcwashington.com\/news\/national-international\/trump-administration-sues-harvard-saying-it-violated-civil-rights-law-and-seeking-to-recover-funds\/4079058\/\">allege that both universities<\/a>\u00a0failed to adequately address antisemitism on campus, violating students\u2019 civil rights.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.harvard.edu\/federal-lawsuits\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/17\/2025\/09\/gov.uscourts.mad_.283718.238.0_1.pdf\">These cases follow<\/a>\u00a0earlier efforts by the Trump administration in 2025\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/litigationtracker.law.georgetown.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/President-and-Fellows-of-Harvard-College_2025.12.30_DEFENDANTS-NOTICE-OF-APPEAL.pdf\">to block<\/a>\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidehighered.com\/news\/government\/2025\/08\/28\/trumps-funding-freezes-against-universities-5-charts\">federal funding<\/a>\u00a0to several major universities. The Trump administration has also \u2013 largely unsuccessfully \u2013 pushed universities to sign agreements that\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/trump-offered-a-restrictive-deal-to-universities-that-almost-all-rejected-but-the-compact-for-academic-excellence-in-higher-education-may-not-be-entirely-dead-275203\">would give the federal government greater oversight<\/a>\u00a0over their day-to-day operations.<\/p>\n<p>In 2025, the Trump administration launched broad\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/abc17news.com\/news\/2025\/03\/10\/department-of-education-investigating-60-colleges-and-universities-over-antisemitism-claims\/?\">Title VI investigations into 60 colleges<\/a>\u00a0and universities. These investigations focused on whether schools had done enough to\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/antisemitism-on-campus-is-a-real-problem-but-headlines-and-government-proposed-solutions-dont-match-the-experience-of-most-jewish-students-265041\">protect Jewish students from discrimination<\/a>\u00a0and harassment, particularly in the wake of the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, the subsequent war in Gaza, and widespread protests across U.S. college campuses.<\/p>\n<p>Many of those\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ahed.assembly.ca.gov\/system\/files\/2025-11\/background-worksheet_0.pdf?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">investigations continue<\/a>.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justice.gov\/crt\/fcs\/TitleVI\">Title VI is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964<\/a>\u00a0and prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color or national origin in any program that receives federal funding.<\/p>\n<p>These federal investigations have prompted\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cen.acs.org\/policy\/nih-nsf-ostp-science-research-funding-cuts\/103\/web\/2025\/12\">scientific researchers<\/a>, among others, across higher education to ask whether the government can invoke claims of civil rights law violations to justify cutting off federal research funding that supports their labs and projects.<\/p>\n<p>As a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ed.buffalo.edu\/about\/directory\/faculty\/profile.html?uid=rcreps\">scholar of educational leadership and policy<\/a>, I think it is helpful to place the Trump administration approach to higher education within a broader understanding of how courts have interpreted civil rights laws within the past few decades and the nuanced way the Supreme Court has found they apply to universities.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Supreme Court weighs in<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>In 1964, Congress passed the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.archives.gov\/milestone-documents\/civil-rights-act\">Civil Rights Act<\/a>.\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.senate.gov\/artandhistory\/history\/common\/generic\/CivilRightsAct1964.htm\">This law banned<\/a>\u00a0discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin in employment, education and public places.<\/p>\n<p>Congress then passed the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.govinfo.gov\/content\/pkg\/COMPS-765\/pdf\/COMPS-765.pdf\">Higher Education Act<\/a>\u00a0in 1965. This law\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/library.cqpress.com\/cqalmanac\/document.php?id=cqal65-1259145#_\">significantly increased<\/a>\u00a0the federal government\u2019s investment in colleges and universities. It also created the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/studentaid.gov\/help-center\/answers\/article\/federal-pell-grant-program\">Pell Grant program<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the first federally funded need-based financial aid program for undergraduate students.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, the Higher Education Act spelled out that schools that receive federal funding need to comply with civil rights laws.<\/p>\n<p>Leaders of\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gcc.edu\/Home\/Our-Story\/Faith-Freedom\/Vision-Mission-Values\">Grove City College<\/a>, a small nondenominational Christian college in rural Pennsylvania, were concerned that this law would bring unwanted government oversight.<\/p>\n<p>At the time, the college did not accept any direct federal funding. But some of its students received\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ed.gov\/sites\/ed\/files\/finaid\/prof\/resources\/data\/pell-historical\/beog-eoy-1973-74.pdf\">Basic Educational Opportunity Grants<\/a>. These grants helped undergraduate students pay for college. Unlike loans, these grants did not have to be repaid.<\/p>\n<p>In 1975, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/aspe.hhs.gov\/reports\/common-thread-service\">Department of Health, Education and Welfare<\/a>\u00a0asked all universities and colleges with students who received federal grants to agree to comply with\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ed.gov\/laws-and-policy\/civil-rights-laws\/title-ix-and-sex-discrimination\">Title IX<\/a>, a 1972 law that prohibits discrimination based on someone\u2019s sex.<\/p>\n<p>In 1976,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.uscourts.gov\/about-federal-courts\/educational-resources\/educational-activities\/14th-amendment-and-evolution-title-ix\/grove-city-college-v-bell-facts-and-case-summary?\">Grove City refused to sign<\/a>\u00a0on to this agreement. A legal back-and-forth ensued.<\/p>\n<p>Grove City College argued that the federal government\u2019s request amounted to unwarranted government intervention, because the college did not directly receive federal funding. The Department of Health, Education and Welfare threatened to cut off the federal grants Grove City students received.<\/p>\n<p>The Supreme Court eventually ruled in 1984 that Grove City\u2019s financial aid program \u2013 but not the entire college \u2013 needed to comply with Title IX in order to receive federal aid. That\u2019s because this specific office directly handled federal student aid.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>A 1988 law clarifies the ruling<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>Many\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1984\/06\/29\/opinion\/pass-the-civil-rights-act-of-1984.html\">House Democrats<\/a>\u00a0perceived this Supreme Court ruling as a loophole that would let universities and colleges sidestep civil rights laws by applying them only to the specific programs that received federal funds.<\/p>\n<p>In 1984, a group of Democrats unsuccessfully tried\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/98th-congress\/senate-bill\/2568\">to pass legislation<\/a>\u00a0that would have extended civil rights protections across all programs within colleges and universities that receive federal aid for any program. A\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/100th-congress\/senate-bill\/557\">different version of this bill<\/a>\u00a0passed Congress with bipartisan support in 1988, on the brink of the presidential elections.<\/p>\n<p>President Ronald Reagan vetoed the bill. Reagan stated in his explanation to the Senate that this bill \u201cwould vastly and unjustifiably expand the power of the Federal Government over the decisions and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reaganlibrary.gov\/archives\/speech\/message-senate-returning-without-approval-civil-rights-restoration-act-1987-and\">affairs of private organizations<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>However,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1988\/03\/17\/us\/reagan-vetoes-bill-that-would-widen-federal-rights-law.html\">many Republicans<\/a>\u00a0seeking reelection in Congress feared that rejecting the bill could alienate women and people of color in the upcoming election.<\/p>\n<p>Within a week, Congress voted to override the veto and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.congress.gov\/bill\/100th-congress\/senate-bill\/557\/all-actions\">enacted the Civil Rights Restoration Act<\/a>\u00a0in 1988. This law clarified that any college accepting federal funds must comply with civil rights laws in all of its programs. This law also allowed the government to withhold federal research funding from colleges based on civil rights violations.<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Enforcing civil rights laws today<\/strong><\/h4>\n<p>The Trump administration is testing just how much the federal government can exert power over colleges and universities that receive federal funding. Some Trump administration supporters\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.city-journal.org\/article\/higher-education-trump-reform-universities-funding\">say they see this strategy<\/a>\u00a0as overdue enforcement against discrimination.<\/p>\n<p>On the other hand, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aau.edu\/newsroom\/barbaras-blog\/dont-politicize-research-funding\">Association of American Universities<\/a>, an organization made up of American research universities, is among the opposition arguing that the administration is trying to weaponize civil rights laws to control how colleges and universities are run.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.adl.org\/resources\/report\/portrait-antisemitic-experiences-us-2024-2025\">Antisemitic incidents are on the rise<\/a>\u00a0in the U.S.,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hillel.org\/antisemitism-on-college-campuses-incident-tracking\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">including on college campuses<\/a>. But some observers have noted that the issue is nuanced, and that the administration is likely\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/theconversation.com\/antisemitism-on-campus-is-a-real-problem-but-headlines-and-government-proposed-solutions-dont-match-the-experience-of-most-jewish-students-265041\">exploiting a controversial issue<\/a>\u00a0to achieve ideological goals.<\/p>\n<p>Federal courts\u2019 interpretations in the Harvard and UCLA lawsuits will further shape how civil rights protections are enforced at colleges and universities. Specifically, these cases will help determine whether the mere allegations of civil rights violations against a university can justify a sweeping freeze of federal research funding.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Author Bio:<\/strong> Ryan Creps is Assistant Professor of Educational Leadership at the University at Buffalo<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Department of Justice\u00a0announced in March 2026\u00a0that it is\u00a0suing Harvard University and the University of California, Los Angeles. The lawsuits\u00a0allege that both universities\u00a0failed to adequately address antisemitism on campus, violating students\u2019 civil rights. These cases follow\u00a0earlier efforts by the Trump administration in 2025\u00a0to block\u00a0federal funding\u00a0to several major universities. The Trump administration has also \u2013 largely [&hellip;]\n&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\/\" class=\"more\">learn more&rarr;<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11222],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-80024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-politics","tag-civil-rights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Trump administration\u2019s lawsuits against Harvard and UCLA have roots in a decades\u2011old fight over civil rights law - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Trump administration\u2019s lawsuits against Harvard and UCLA have roots in a decades\u2011old fight over civil rights law - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Department of Justice\u00a0announced in March 2026\u00a0that it is\u00a0suing Harvard University and the University of California, Los Angeles. The lawsuits\u00a0allege that both universities\u00a0failed to adequately address antisemitism on campus, violating students\u2019 civil rights. These cases follow\u00a0earlier efforts by the Trump administration in 2025\u00a0to block\u00a0federal funding\u00a0to several major universities. The Trump administration has also \u2013 largely [&hellip;]\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-10T05:12:51+00:00\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/handsofHigherEd.jpg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"680\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"453\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kevin\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kevin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/42c1c1d5ff7ffbdf0bd50ed94c6ae6ee\"},\"headline\":\"Trump administration\u2019s lawsuits against Harvard and UCLA have roots in a decades\u2011old fight over civil rights law\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-10T05:12:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":945,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/handsofHigherEd.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"civil rights\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business and Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/world.edu\\\/trump-administrations-lawsuits-against-harvard-and-ucla-have-roots-in-a-decades-old-fight-over-civil-rights-law\\\/\",\"name\":\"Trump administration\u2019s lawsuits against Harvard and UCLA have roots in a decades\u2011old fight over civil rights law - 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The lawsuits\u00a0allege that both universities\u00a0failed to adequately address antisemitism on campus, violating students\u2019 civil rights. These cases follow\u00a0earlier efforts by the Trump administration in 2025\u00a0to block\u00a0federal funding\u00a0to several major universities. 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