The Trump administration has launched an investigation into Harvard University and its prestigious Harvard Law Review, alleging that the legal journal’s article selection process may involve race-based discrimination, according to a statement released Monday by federal officials.
The inquiry comes amid a broader crackdown by President Donald Trump on American universities, which he accuses of fostering anti-Semitism, anti-white bias, and what he calls “gender ideology” by supporting transgender students. Harvard, one of the nation’s most prominent academic institutions, recently had billions in federal funding frozen after it refused to comply with new federal oversight measures. In response, the university filed a lawsuit against the administration last week.
The U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services jointly announced that they had received reports about Harvard Law Review’s “policies and practices for journal membership and article selection that may violate” Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Title VI prohibits institutions receiving federal funding from discriminating on the basis of race, color, or national origin.
“Harvard Law Review’s article selection process appears to pick winners and losers on the basis of race,” said Craig Trainor, acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education. “The Trump administration will not allow Harvard, or any other institution, to trample on anyone’s civil rights.”
Founded in 1887, the Harvard Law Review is a student-run journal known for publishing influential legal scholarship. Former President Barack Obama served as the journal’s first Black president in 1990, a milestone often cited in his political rise.
A spokesperson for Harvard Law School told AFP that the institution is committed to legal compliance and to investigating any credible allegations of wrongdoing. They also noted that Harvard Law Review operates independently of the law school and referenced a similar 2018 claim that was ultimately dismissed.
The investigation follows weeks of protests at Harvard, where students and faculty have rallied in opposition to the Trump administration’s actions. Demonstrators gathered around the John Harvard statue in Cambridge earlier this month, holding signs and denouncing what they view as a politically motivated attack on academic freedom.
