Harvard Faces Federal Probes, Lawsuit Over Race, Antisemitism

0:00On March 23rd, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has started two new investigations into Harvard University. The first checks, if the school is still using race in its emissions process, even after the Supreme Court's ruling in 2023 that banned, such practices. The second probes claims that Harvard failed to protect Jewish students from anti-Semitic harassment on campus. Officials send Harvard a letter warning of enforcement action because the university has not shared key admissions data needed to verify compliance. With civil rights laws, Harvard now has 20 days to respond, or the matter could go to the Department of Justice for further steps. Education Secretary Linda McMahon criticized Harvard sharply, saying the school should know better after years of issues with discrimination in. She made clear that no institution, not even Harvard, is above federal civil rights rules. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice filed a separate lawsuit in federal court in Massachusetts.

1:01It accuses Harvard of ignoring anti-Semitism and seeks to freeze future federal grants while trying to recover billions in past funding given to the university. Harvard fire back, stating it will defend itself against what it calls a pretextual move by the administration. With these probes and the suit moving forward, federal oversight of the university's practices is heating up fast.