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Op-ed: A bipartisan statement on the arrest of Rümeysa Öztürk

By Tufts Republicans and Tufts Democrats | April 10

On March25, Rümeysa Öztürk, a member of the Tufts University community,wasdetained by theDepartment of Homeland Security near her apartment in Somerville.The next morning, she was transported to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center in Louisiana. As of the issuance of thisstatement, a federal judge has transferredÖztürk’s detention case to Vermont.

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Op-ed: Tufts takes a stand for free speech — others must follow

By Connor Murnane | April 9

The evening of March 25, federal immigration officials detained Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk — a move widely suggested to have been a response to an op-ed she co-wrote for the student paper, The Tufts Daily. Last week, Tufts University made clear it “has no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention.” Tufts further clarified that Öztürk’s op-ed drew no complaints and was protected under the school’s free expression commitments. In fact, Tufts points out that “a search of The Tufts Daily will reveal op-eds on multiple sides of the issue with opinions that were shared just as strongly as the op-ed Ms. Öztürk co-authored.”

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Op-ed: Under attack from above and within

By Neil Osborne | April 7

Museums, libraries and arts institutions that hold our living and breathing story as a nation are under attack. On March 27, President Donald Trump engaged in this attack by signing an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.” These attacked organizations make up our cultural heritage like a patchwork quilt stitched together from diverse fabrics, each representing contributions from different communities. This executive order, however, aims to rip out specific patches under the guise of restoration, leaving behind an incomplete tapestry.

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Op-ed: Rümeysa, a friend with a kind heart and uplifting spirit

By Anonymous | April 4

A couple of years ago, on Valentine’s Day, I gifted Rumeysa this little book that lists 50 reasons why she’s my best friend. Now when I think about it, I find that I have more than 50 things that I like about Rümeysa. So, here is the story of our friendship during times of hardship and ease…

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Op-eds: Alums respond to the detainment of Rümeysa Öztürk

By Tufts Alums | April 4

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.

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Op-ed: The detainment of Rümeysa Öztürk is wrong. And we stand against it.

By Tufts Friends of Israel | April 3

These are dark times in our community, our city, our state, our nation and our world. Wars rage across the globe, economic uncertainty looms and our basic freedoms are under assault.

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Op-ed: No one should be arrested or deported for writing an op-ed

By Jumbo Journalists | March 31

It is now several days following the arrest, and the statements received from the university to date concern its lack of “pre-knowledge” of ICE’s actions, its support for Muslim students and campus resources for international students. What we have not heard — and what we hope to hear — is an unequivocal public statement by Tufts leadership affirming its absolute commitment to protecting academic freedom, a free press and the First Amendment.

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Op-ed: Appeal for Tufts union members to join Tuesday student-walkout

By Sam White and Willow Reader | March 31

Dear Tufts unions, as we know, President Donald Trump’s administration’s horrific attacks on immigrants and its repression of the antiwar movement have only escalated in the wake of the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil at Columbia University. After being abducted near her home by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on Tuesday, Tufts graduate student and member of Service Employees International Union Local 509 Rümeysa Öztürk has been locked in a Louisiana ICE detention facility and is threatened with deportation.

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Op-ed: ICE cannot defeat student activism

By Antero Mejr | March 31

On Tuesday, masked federal agents in an unmarked vehicle abducted Tufts doctorate student Rümeysa Öztürk off the street in Somerville. She was transported to a detention center in Louisiana, despite a court order ruling that she be kept in Massachusetts. This incident not only presents a grave physical danger to Tufts students but also a chilling effect on free speech as a whole. The Tufts administration must take action to mitigate the impacts of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s activities targeting Boston to ensure the security of both U.S. citizens and international students.

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Op-ed: A letter in defense of academic freedom, human rights and the First Amendment

By Members of the Class of 1989 | March 28

We write as alumni of Tufts University and members of the Class of 1989, urging the Tufts administration, faculty and students to be steadfast in demanding the immediate release of Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk. History has shown us that authoritarian regimes target academics first, fearing ...

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Op-ed: The symbolic erasure of Palestinian suffering in the West

By Louis Ewington | March 28

The Western world has a widespread culture of apathy which allows for a callous separation from global events. This apathy is facilitated through a variety of methods, including a lack of proximity to those in faraway countries and a feeling of being overwhelmed by personal issues that ...

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Letter to the Editor

By Alexander Levin | February 24

On Feb. 7, the Dailypublished an op-ed titled “Perverting protest into profit,” written by Ryan Rizvi. Rizvi argues that Tufts’“punitive” disciplinary structure limits critical thinking and allows Tufts to control the student body. His argument for challenging authority is sound. However,the argument that it is okay to disobey laws set by shared moral standards not only has no validity but increasingly sows division and conflict. The op-edsympathizes with kindergarten students who “are put in the timeout corner, only to return when they are embarrassed enough to have learned their lesson.” What would your average kindergarten class be like if there were no rules and no timeouts? 

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Reaffirming the Daily's journalistic practices

By Ethics and Inclusion Committee | February 19

In light of recent actions taken by the federal government to arrest undocumented immigrants, drumming up fear across the nation, The Tufts Daily’s Ethics & Inclusion Committee is issuing an open letter to Tufts and the local communities of Medford and Somerville to reaffirm and clarify our journalistic ethics and practices as it relates to documentation status.

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Letter to the Editor

By Nick Giurleo | February 12

In the Daily’s Thursday article, “Medford passes Welcoming City Ordinance,” Medford City Councilor Justin Tseng praises the city’s euphemistically-named Welcoming City Ordinance. In the councilor’s own words, “This is essentially sanctuary city legislation.” His ...

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Op-ed: To the members of the Tufts Board of Trustees

By A&S Full-time Lecturers Union and SMFA Professors of the Practice Union | January 25

Our working conditions are our students’ learning conditions. Unfortunately, there are significant salary and workload challenges that make it increasingly difficult to deliver on Tufts’ mission of providing transformative experiences. In our bargaining sessions with the administration that started in April 2024, we have repeatedly stressed the need for livable salaries and fair, equitable workloads so that we can continue to provide an exceptional education for our students.

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Letter from the Editor in Chief: Looking back and looking ahead

By Arghya Thallapragada | January 15

Dear readers, Welcome back to another semester on the Hill! My name is Arghya Thallapragada, and I am the Editor in Chief of The Tufts Daily for the spring 2025 semester. I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the Daily and tell you about our intentions for reporting this semester.

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Letter to the Editor

By Paul Schlichtman | November 26

I am one of those people who believe trains are good, and more trains are better. However, as much as my heart cheers the Daily’s recent article (The Green Line should be extended — again), a Green Line extension to West Medford would be a challenging and expensive project that is unlikely to occur before current Tufts students visit their grandchildren on campus.

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Letter to the Editor

By Tufts University Department of Political Science | November 22

In response to recent news attention to the Tufts University Department of Political Science and in order to clear up any confusion, the faculty in this department unanimously issues the following statement: We have never had any ideological litmus tests for helping students get internship opportunities. ...

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Op-ed: Why did Trump really win? Zooming in on the fundamentals

By Alex Landy | November 19

Despite legal troubles and persistent personal scandals, former President Donald Trump defeated Vice President Kamala Harris at the ballot box —and it wasn’t as close as the polls had projected. Ultimately, Trump won the national popular vote — the first Republican to do so since 2004 — and secured a commanding Electoral College victory. The avalanche of op-eds and post-mortems explaining Trump’s victory will no doubt continue to circulate in the months ahead. These well-informed perspectives should not obscure the fundamentals of the 2024 election. While we cannot put ourselves in the mind of every Trump voter to explain his victory, here is what we do know: Voters’ perceptions of the state of the economy and the direction of the country tilted this race in Trump’s favor from the onset.

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Op-ed: Institutional ‘neutrality’ is institutional cowardice

By Antero Mejr | November 18

The Office of the Provost and Senior Vice President announced in an email to students on Friday afternoon that Tufts is exploring the option of a university-wide “Statement of Neutrality,” in which the university will attempt to distance itself from “taking positions on geopolitical or social matters.” Such an action would reflect poorly on the university, its administration, its alumni and the students. It demonstrates the worst tendencies of current-day institutions and should be opposed and scrapped for the following reasons. 

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