Conservative Legal Group Backs Justice Dept. Investigation Into Harvard’s Admissions Policies

America First Legal Foundation, a conservative legal group founded by senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller, published a letter Wednesday backing a federal investigation into whether Harvard has failed to comply with a Supreme Court ruling that ended affirmative action.

The letter echoed the Department of Justice’s claim that Harvard has continued to consider race in admissions decisions. But the group also went further by alleging that Harvard’s recent rebranding of diversity initiatives is intended to feign compliance with the Supreme Court’s 2023 decision in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard.

“It appears Harvard has adopted the language of compliance while preserving the substance of discrimination within its medical school,” read the letter, which was addressed to Harmeet K. Dhillon, the head of the DOJ’s civil rights division. “This is not a lawful adaptation. It is covert circumvention to achieve the very racial balancing the Supreme Court struck down.”

Much of the letter focused on Harvard Medical School, alleging that the school favored minority students through recruitment programs and commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

America First Legal also attacked more than $49 million in grants to HMS, which it said supported race-based and DEI programs — largely because the grants focused on studying health disparities or committed to recruiting diverse students. All of the grants in question have been terminated.

The letter urged the Justice Department to conduct a review of all of Harvard’s federal funding and limit any grants found to “sustain racially or sexually preferential systems.” It also asked the DOJ to require Harvard to suspend outreach programs for minority students, dismantle rebranded DEI programs, and write a “detailed inventory of all dismantled DEI-related programs, positions, and initiatives.”

A Harvard spokesperson did not immediately respond to comment for this article, but the University has previously said it is in compliance with the Supreme Court ruling.

Since April, Harvard has moved to replace diversity initiatives that the Trump administration has deemed broadly illegal. The University renamed its central diversity office to Community and Campus Life in April. Harvard College and graduate schools — including HMS — have followed suit by quietly wiping DEI messages from websites and restructuring diversity offices with names that omit any mention of diversity.

The changes to DEI policies have drawn criticism from some Harvard affiliates, who see the moves as preemptive capitulation to Donald Trump’s longstanding demands that the University dismantle diversity programming.

While some worry that Harvard’s changes have already effectively ended DEI programming, America First Legal’s concern is that the University hasn’t gone far enough. The group claimed that the rebranding was a “calculated strategy” by Harvard to make nominal adjustments to DEI programs but avoid material changes to diversity initiatives on campus.

The Thursday letter urged the DOJ to investigate Harvard’s DEI rebranding efforts, admissions processes, and any affiliated recruitment, residency, and clerkship programs. The letter also asked the government to force Havard to dismantle all DEI programming — a longstanding demand from the Trump administration.

America First Legal pointed to messaging from University officials that, the letter argued, indicated that Harvard was still committed to DEI goals. Among them was a message from chief Community and Campus Life officer Sherri A. Charleston — who was previously Harvard’s chief diversity officer — stating that her revamped office would “redouble its emphasis” on building a “culture of belonging.”

The message, the letter suggested, was indicative of DEI goals.

America First Legal also criticized HMS-affiliated residency and recruitment programs that support students who come from backgrounds that are “underrepresented in medicine.” The group argued that only “specific racial groups” could be categorized as being underrepresented, therefore making the programs race-conscious.

The letter also took issue with elements of the HMS curriculum that encourage students to learn about “health equity” and “sexual and gender minority health.” Its authors argued that focusing on social justice and equalizing health disparities would distract students from pursuing “clinical excellence.”

Another focus was federal grants to HMS that America First Legal determined were “race-based and DEI-driving.” Examples included the $21.9 million HMS-affiliated Clinical and Translational Science Center, a research lab which, according to the letter, pledged to “train and diversify” the “clinical and translational science workforce.”

The letter criticized a $13.3 million grant for a speech and hearing science doctoral program; an $8.9 million grant for an M.D.-Ph.D. program partnership with MIT; and a $2 million grant that “frames cancer screening and tobacco treatment within a health-equity and social-determinants framework.”

The letter also targeted a $1.7 million grant to study the relationship between climate, race, and menstrual health, as well as a $1.3 million grant that aims to develop solutions to climate-related health impacts in Boston, South Africa, and Madagascar.

The DOJ investigation is part of a broader assault by the White House against Harvard. The administration has cut billions in federal research funding and attempted to end its enrollment of international students. After the University challenged both actions in court, a federal judge temporarily blocked the threats to international students and appeared skeptical of the government’s defense of the funding cuts.

Still, pressure has mounted in recent weeks as the White House pushes for a settlement with Harvard — and concern and speculation swirl over what conditions a deal might entail.

An agreement with Trump could at least temporarily stem the flood of investigations facing Harvard, but it could also cause uproar from some affiliates who remain doubtful that a deal could preserve the University’s independence and academic freedom.

In previous settlements with Trump, both Columbia University and Brown University agreed to disclose more detailed data about the race, standardized test scores, and grades of their admitted students. The agreements could provide a window for the Trump administration to punish universities that it believes are violating the Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling against race-based affirmative action.

Trump on Thursday signed a memorandum directing the Education Department to “expand the scope of required reporting to provide adequate transparency into admissions.” The order will likely be used to force colleges to disclose more details about the race of their applicants and admits.

—Staff writer William C. Mao can be reached at william.mao@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @williamcmao.