Harvard is spending more than $126 million a year on legal fees and has assembled a team of former Biden and Obama administration lawyers to fight a federal lawsuit demanding proof that the university actually stopped using race in admissions. Stuart Delery, a Gibson Dunn partner who served as White House Counsel to President Biden […] The post Harvard enlists Biden and Obama alumni to block federal review of its admissions data appeared first on American Almanac .
Harvard is spending more than $126 million a year on legal fees and has assembled a team of former Biden and Obama administration lawyers to fight a federal lawsuit demanding proof that the university actually stopped using race in admissions. Stuart Delery, a Gibson Dunn partner who served as White House Counsel to President Biden from 2022 to 2023 and held a senior Justice Department post under President Obama, stood before a federal judge in Boston on September 24 and asked the court to throw out the government's case. The suit, United States v. President and Fellows of Harvard College, seeks admissions data the government says it needs to verify Harvard's compliance with the Supreme Court's June 2023 ruling barring race-based…Open
What is the argument used by Stuart Delery regarding the government's request for admissions records?
Delery described the request for a spreadsheet of records as "incredibly broad" and "extraordinarily intrusive," warning it would expose "highly sensitive information about hundreds of thousands of high school students," including their "mental health struggles."
Q&A ID 54bd4844-97d4-47fe-a0c8-05edba96cfdb
Which law firm represented Harvard in the original affirmative-action case, Students for Fair Admissions Inc. v. President and Fellows of Harvard College?
The firm was WilmerHale.
Q&A ID b9fbafbe-cbc5-498c-a6a4-a850b0d010ef
Who is Sherif Girgis, and what is her upcoming role at Harvard Law School?
Sherif Girgis is an incoming tenured professor, previously at Notre Dame, who clerked for Justice Samuel Alito and co-authored the 2012 book What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense; she is set to start at Harvard Law School on January 1, 2027.
Q&A ID 9101d151-806c-4bc7-9777-a3fea3bee31e
According to the government's arguments, what did findings from Duke University's admissions data reveal?
At Duke's law school, the government found a black applicant had roughly 3.5 times the probability of admission as an equally strong Asian applicant with similar academic credentials. At Duke's medical school during the 2024, 2025 admissions cycle, admission rates for black and Hispanic applicants were two or three times higher than those of white or Asian applicants, despite black and Hispanic applicants having, on average, lower grades and test scores.
Q&A ID 4e87efce-9454-4021-b05a-88a57f66f8ee
Who are the members of the legal team assembled by Harvard that are veterans of the Biden or Obama administrations?
The team includes Stuart Delery (a Gibson Dunn partner who served as White House Counsel to President Biden from 2022 to 2023 and held a senior Justice Department post under President Obama), Joshua Levy (a Ropes and Gray lawyer twice nominated by President Biden to serve as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts), and Jennifer O'Connor (Harvard's vice president and general counsel, who was nominated by President Obama to be general counsel of the Pentagon and previously served as deputy White House counsel in the Obama administration).
Q&A ID 96d77905-9963-4881-868d-16ae901855d6
What specific types of information would be included in the spreadsheet of admissions records requested by the government?
The spreadsheet would include grades, interview scores, and legacy status.
Q&A ID 8d5eebdf-592a-458c-97d9-85a82959fee4
Who is the federal judge presiding over the case involving Harvard's admissions data?
The judge is Myong Joun.
Q&A ID 4f79e6ec-2706-4b4c-a8f0-76cbb47781cd
On what date did Stuart Delery appear before a federal judge in Boston to ask the court to throw out the government's case against Harvard?
He appeared before the judge on September 24.
Q&A ID a017e9aa-720f-42e5-8adb-ba8a58c91425
What is the name of the federal lawsuit seeking admissions data from Harvard?
The lawsuit is titled United States v. President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Q&A ID 6469a498-c9db-420e-85d8-2b70645a6dbd
How much did Harvard spend on legal fees during the fiscal year running from July 2024 through June 2025?
Harvard spent $126,617,412 on legal fees during that period, which was more than any other Ivy League school, exceeding Columbia's spending by more than $30 million and more than five times what Yale spent.
Q&A ID 12ecdde6-fcd9-4611-ad84-70a8253d4177