People walk through Harvard Yard on the Harvard University campus in Cambridge, Massachussetts, on April 15, 2025.
Joseph Prezioso | AFP | Getty Images
The Trump administration on Monday announced the opening of two investigations into Harvard University and the Harvard Law Review after reports that the prestigious legal journal was selecting articles for publication based on their authors’ race and not merit.
The announcement comes as the Trump administration and Harvard are feuding over demands by the administration that the Ivy League university adopt a series of changes, including that it dismantle its so-called DEI programs and screen international students for ideological red flags.
The Trump administration two weeks ago said it was freezing $2.2 billion in grants to Harvard due to concerns about antisemitism on campus and other issues.
On Monday, the civil rights offices of both the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services said they would investigate allegations of discriminatory practices at the Harvard Law Review.
“The investigations are in response to information ED and HHS received about policies and practices for journal membership and article selection that may violate Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” according to a joint statement issued by the departments.
That statement cited reports that the Law Review’s editor “reportedly wrote that it was ‘concerning’ that “[f]our of the five people” who wanted to reply to an article about police reform ‘are white men.’ “
“Another HLR editor suggested ‘that a piece should be subject to expedited review because the author was a minority,’ ” the departments’ statement said.
Craig Trainor, the Education Department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights, in a statement, said, “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.”
“Title VI’s demands are clear: recipients of federal financial assistance may not discriminate on the basis of race, color, or national origin,” Trainor said. “No institution—no matter its pedigree, prestige, or wealth—is above the law. The Trump Administration will not allow Harvard, or any other recipients of federal funds, to trample on anyone’s civil rights.”
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