Op-ed: Defending the Four Freedoms in an age of fear
We stand in solidarity with the current student body at Tufts, and other alumni, in condemning the lack of due process in the detainment of Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk.
The rise of authoritarian attitudes in recent months has manifested in troubling ways, including attacks on the integrity of government institutions, outrageous threats to the sovereignty of other nations and the inhumane deportation and detainment of immigrants living in the United States to foreign prisons without judicial oversight.
Additionally, the administration of President Donald Trump has perpetuated the erosion of the legal and academic professions’ autonomy, questioned the loyalty of long standing military and civil personnel and partaken in racial and ethnic dog-whistling.
At this tumultuous moment, we are reminded of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s historic “Four Freedoms” speech, in which he declared that all people should enjoy these essential freedoms: freedom of speech and expression, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
We are profoundly concerned that each of these freedoms are under siege today.
We urge the Tufts community and administration to resist these mounting pressures and to stand firm in defending American democratic institutions. We stand with you in solidarity during these challenging times.
Signed,
Michael J. Bell (LA’90) and these other members of the Tufts alumni network:
Alicia Katz (LA’90), Andrea Brand (LA’90), Annie Rosenthal Sindelar, Carrie Stuber (Merrick) (LA’91), Carter Wickstrom (LA’90), Christine Brown (LA’90), Deborah Blumenthal (LA’90), Eliakim Littell (LA’90), Eric Bove (AG’90), Evdoxios Doxiadis (LA’91), Jamie Bronstein (LA’90, F’91), Jennifer Cutcliffe Juste (LA’90), John Tinger Jr. (LA’91), Julie Drogin (LA’90), Kathleen Waters (LA’90), Kerry Levenberg (LA’91), Laura Fernandez (LA’90), Lisa Colvin (LA’90), Maria Maccarone (LA’90), Marie (Powers) McCarragher (LA’90), Max A Herman (LA’90), Nancy Melley (LA’90), Pamela Way (LA’90), Paul Aloisio (LA’90), Phil Surks (LA’91), Risa Weisberg Hawkins (LA’90), Robert K. Cliver (LA’91), Sara Wilson (LA’90), Saroya Follender (E’90), Shera Chee Mercer (LA’90), Susan Hampton Auriemma (LA’90), William Law (LA’90, D’94), W.T. Miller (LA’90)
Op-ed: Open letter to Tufts President Kumar
I am writing regarding the recent unlawful detention of graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operatives.
I just received an invitation to my 55th class reunion. I am a Tufts alumnus of the Class of 1970 — the Vietnam generation — a class familiar with social conscience and student protest (our finals were cancelled, and our graduation delayed and turned non-traditional due to protests of Nixon’s recent bombing of Cambodia). Tufts was very slow to respond to change when its students protested the war and Reserve Officers’ Training Corps presence on campus. I would hope that some lessons have been learned by the Tufts administration in the intervening 50 years.
Now one of your students, with legal status accorded her by her F-1 visa, has been illegally abducted by masked agents of the federal government. This incident follows similar actions at Columbia, Georgetown and other universities. Regardless of whether the Tufts administration had any role in this matter, the university must respond assertively to protest this flagrant violation. The very foundations of academic freedom of expression and human rights are being challenged by the current Washington administration, and Tufts, along with other great universities, must take a proactive stand to defend them by providing publicity and legal assistance to free Öztürk and by actively opposing and loudly protesting such actions of the federal government.
Brian Wiese (A’70)
Op-ed: Honoring Rümeysa Öztürk’s op-ed in light of her abduction
The abduction of Rümeysa Öztürk is an existential threat to Tufts University’s Mission and Vision statement, to be a place for creative scholars to generate bold ideas towards an ideal of active world citizenship. The administration of President Donald Trump kidnapped Öztürk because she followed these principles in writing a thoughtful article calling for the university to listen to its own student senate and divest from Israel over its treatment of Gaza. To uphold its principles, the university must now fight relentlessly to protect its besieged Mission and Vision — and by extension, Rümeysa. The university recently submitted a short statement asking a court to release her, but I have a suggestion for how they can do more: The best way to fight for Öztürk’s right to free speech is to fearlessly promote and implement the speech that got her abducted.
Resistance is an inherently oppositional practice. The Trump administration does not want op-eds like Öztürk’s to be written or opinions like hers to be heard. If we want to resist this censorship as individuals, we can start by reading her article and promoting it at every turn, sharing it online and tacking it to the doors of civic buildings.
As an institution, Tufts University’s first act of resistance should be to immediately implement the proposals in Öztürk’s op-ed, most notably by divesting from companies with ties to Israel and the Gaza war. Tufts should do so regardless of the school’s views on Öztürk’s proposal or divestment generally. In other words, Tufts should divest from Israel simply because Öztürk was arrested for asking it to do so. The divestment policy should continue in force until she is released. Implementing Öztürk’s wishes until she walks free would be a powerful act of solidarity and a frustration of the government’s efforts to silence her and those who share her views. It would mean that her words matter, no matter what the government does with her person.
Tufts may think it is being prudent in offering a limited, legal response to the kidnapping of one of its own. Federal money may be at stake in opposing this spiteful administration. But heeding to federal funding misreads the situation. By its nature, a mission stands above the resources marshalled to support it. Öztürk risks having her studies disrupted and being sent home if the university doesn’t fight harder for her. Tufts risks losing its very soul.
Frank Curren (LA’07)
Op-ed: Öztürk’s detainment is un-American
The March 25 abduction of Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk by masked federal authorities sent chills down my spine. This action was reminiscent of the Jim Crow, Ku Klux Klan era, where white-hooded men targetted Black, Jewish and Catholic residents, snatching minorities from their homes, businesses and churches day and night to demoralize, torture and murder them, solely on the basis of color and religion. Öztürk’s abduction, detainment and visa termination stemmed from voicing her opinion on the long-standing, complex struggle between Palestinian freedoms and the security of the State of Israel. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution affords individuals the right to express their opinions free from government interference. However, this was not the case for Öztürk. It has grown apparent that the administration of President Donald Trump aims to stamp out dissenting voices under the pretext of protecting Jewish students from intimidation and acts of antisemitism. At the nearly 6,000 colleges and universities in the United States, each and every student should be protected from acts of intimidation, bullying and violence. These strong-arm tactics against Öztürk, Columbia graduate student Mahmoud Khalil and others that have been detained under this administration appear to come straight from the fascist handbook. U.S. visa holders have rights, as do all American citizens. What is happening to these students is un-American.
I call upon University President Sunil Kumar, the Tufts community and all Americans to hold the line against these assaults on our personal, constitutional freedoms and civil liberties. We must continue to assert our voices, speaking out against the injustices of our government through non-violent protest and definitive action. The truth must be our beacon as we stand firm in our beliefs in hopes of turning these morally wrong and unjust tides. We all must stand together and fight for this beautiful nation of ours or it will surely fall into the hands of the corrupt. Won’t you stand with me?
Herman Hunter (A’77)
Op-ed: Let us be the shining light upon the Hill
Fellow Jumbos,
I must confess, my feelings about the state of Israel are complicated. That being said, my feelings about genocide, free speech and due process are not.
I stand, unreservedly, with Rümeysa Öztürk. Her right to free speech, her right to due process, has been abrogated by the criminal administration of President Donald Trump, and while I appreciate the actions taken by University President Sunil Kumar in filing a declaration in support of her release, the silence of the larger academic community in the face of this suppression is deafening — and damning. If thugs in masks and hoodies can detain someone for their speech alone, we are no longer a constitutional republic. We are no longer a light on the hill.
Our light on the hill will fail if it is conditional. Our light on the hill has failed if we do not extend its power and grace to the entirety of our community. And our community is expansive, indeed.
Otis Ainsworth Skinner, the man who helped fund Tufts and the first secretary of the Board of Trustees, helped choose the first university president as well as the location of our campus and took a stand against chattel slavery in the 1840s. We find ourselves now confronted again by tyranny, corruption and oppression in the truest sense of the words.
Let us be the epitome of the shining light upon the Hill. I stand with Rümeysa Öztürk. I urge you to do the same.
Sincerely,
Carter Wickstrom (LA'90)
Op-ed: We need more action from Kumar and the Tufts administration
Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk remains detained in Louisiana with no known charges and the only publicly known allegation against her being that she coauthored an op-ed in the Daily calling for the university to divest from Israel. In this outrageous situation, it is imperative that the Tufts administration and the Board of Trustees do far more to advocate for Öztürk, to speak out against this terrifying violation of core constitutional rights and to live up to Tufts’ ideal of being a “light on the hill.”
On Thursday, March 27, two days after Öztürk was arrested by six anonymous plain-clothes federal agents, Tufts sent an email to alums that mostly focused on avoiding blame rather than expressing outrage. The email included information that Tufts had “no knowledge of this incident in advance,” “did not share any information with federal authorities prior to the event” and that the abduction took place “outside an off-campus apartment.”
After being silent for nearly a week, on Wednesday the administration shared a “declaration” with the Tufts community that it had filed with the U.S. District Court in support of a motion filed on Öztürk’s behalf. This factual statement declared that “Öztürk is a third-year doctoral student in good academic and administrative standing,” that Tufts “has no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention,” that her op-ed, “was not in violation of any Tufts policies” and that Tufts “has no further information suggesting that she has acted in a manner that would constitute a violation of the University’s understanding of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.” Of course legal support is essential and welcome, but more must be done.
Perhaps the area in which Tufts most excels is civics — defined as the privileges and obligations of citizens. Tufts mission statement commits to providing an environment where students “distinguish themselves as active citizens of the world.” Tufts is the proud home of Tisch College, which serves as “a hub for students, faculty, and community members who are committed to civic engagement.”
Of course University President Sunil Kumar, Board Chair Jeffrey Moslow and the entire administration and board are faced with one of the greatest challenges that has faced the university; as per 2023, over $165 million of federal funding is at risk. However, far more important in these challenging times is that Tufts protect its students and stand up for its core principles.
Tufts should be taking every possible step to help Öztürk. This should include calling on every student, parent, alumnus and other member of the Tufts community to take action — to call their elected officials to demand Öztürk’s release and write op-eds in papers throughout the world exposing this travesty of justice.
Kumar, the administration and the board should be appearing on national news to state how outrageous it is for a student to be imprisoned in Louisiana without having been charged with any crime. Kumar should even travel to the Louisiana Immigration and Customs Enforcement Processing Center to visit Öztürk to show that her well-being is Tufts’ number one priority.
Unfortunately, the administration’s silence gives the appearance that they are too frightened of jeopardizing federal funding to speak. By contrast, on Monday the New York Times published an op-ed by Cornell’s Michael Kotlikoff, “Universities Like the One I Run Aren’t Afraid to Let People Argue,” in which he argued, “universities, despite rapidly escalating political, legal and financial risks, cannot afford to cede the space of public discourse and the free exchange of ideas.”
Whether or not you agree with Öztürk’s op-ed — I personally don’t — the core principle that every student at Tufts, and everyone in our democracy, has an inalienable right to peacefully advocate for their lawful, non-violent beliefs is far more important. To be clear, opposition to Israel’s policies does not make someone antisemitic.
As an alumnus, the most important lesson I learned at Tufts is the importance of doing the right thing, especially at times of great adversity. This, more than anything, is the Tufts way.
It is time for President Kumar to lead the entire Tufts community in working for the immediate release of Öztürk and standing up for free speech in our country.
I realize that writing an op-ed in The Tufts Daily calling on the Tufts administration to act is a jailable offense in today’s America, but as a Jumbo I’m willing to take that risk.
Richard Robbins (LA'91)
