President Donald Trump’s administration launched an investigation into the Harvard University Legal Journal for alleged discriminatory practices, expanding the battle for weeks for federal funding with elite institutions.
The Civil Rights Office of the Ministry of Education and Health and Humanitarian Services announced on Monday that they were investigating Harvard Law Review, an independent organization managed by students who promoted legal scholarships.
The offices are investigating the accusation that the discriminatory journal is based on the race “as a substitute for achievement-based standards”, which violates the anti-discrimination law title VI, according to the release by two agencies.
“The process of selecting the Harvard Law Review article seems to choose the winner and losers based on race, using a spoils where the Rasjara Law Ras is, if no more, important than the benefits of submission,” said Craig Trainor, Assistant Secretary Assistant in the Office of the Department of Education for Civil Rights, said in a statement on Monday.
The bodies say that the Harvard legal review is at risk of losing federal funds if it is found to have violated the law of title VI.
Harvard Law Review has been published and edited by students for more than 135 years. It aims to become an effective research tool for practicing lawyers and students, according to the website.
“Harvard Law School is committed to ensuring that the programs and activities are supervised in accordance with all applicable laws and to investigate the alleged trusted violations,” said a university spokesman in a statement to ABC News, noting that the journal “is an organization managed by students who are legally independent of law schools.”
People walk through Harvard Yard at the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, April 15, 2025.
Joseph Prezios/AFP Via Getty Images
The latest investigation occurred after Trump’s government froze more than $ 2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard after the university refused to fulfill a series of demands after a review of the antisemitism task force earlier this month.
Harvard University President Alan Garber said in a letter at the time that “there is no government – regardless of which party has the ruling – must determine what can be taught by private universities, which they can admit and rent, and which fields of study and investigation they can pursue.”
The university has filed a lawsuit over the threat of Trump’s administration to hold funds, asking the judge to block the freezing of funds so as not to apply, on the grounds that the move “violates the law and outside the authority of the government.”
During a brief conference on Monday, US District Court judge Allison Burroughs scheduled an oral argument in a lawsuit that challenged the freezing of funds on July 21. Meanwhile, freezing of funds will remain in force.
Internal Revenue Service is also considering revoking Harvard’s tax -free status, Sumber told ABC News earlier this month.
In other developments, the Department of Education said that on Monday, the Civil Rights Office found that Pennsylvania University violated the title IX by allowing transgender athletes to compete in the Women’s Sports Team.
This department demands the university’s problem a statement to its community that they will comply with the law, apologize to athletes whose athletic participation is “damaged by gender discrimination,” and restores all athletics or awards “misused by male athletes.” Schools have 10 days to resolve violations or take a referral risk to the Department of Justice.
Earlier this year, the Trump government said they suspended $ 175 million in the federal contract given to Penn, quoting the participation of transgender athletes in the women’s swimming team.
A Penn spokesman said at that time that the university had “always followed” NCAA and Ivy League’s policies regarding student participation in the athletic team.
ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributes to this report.