On Monday,Tufts issued a declaration supporting a lawsuit filed by several universities against the Department of Energy over its decision to implement a 15% cap on indirect costs for existing and future research grants to universities and colleges. The Department of Energy announced its decision on Friday.
On April 4, U.S. District Judge Angel Kelley ordered a permanent injunction on the National Institutes of Health,preventing the cuts on indirect medical research costs from taking effect nationwide. However, four days later, the United States Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees the NIH, filed a Notice of Appeal. The case is now in the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit.
The Tufts Community Union Elections Commission announced the incoming senators for the 2025–26 academic year on Saturday, shortly after voting concluded at 12 p.m. According to junior Luca O’Neil, the treasurer of the Election Commission, approximately 16.2% of students voted in the election, down from last year’s approximately 20%.
On Thursday, Rümeysa Öztürk’s legal counsel filed a motion to the United States District Court for the District of Vermont for her immediate release or, alternatively, her return to Vermont. The government’s counsel argues that Öztürk’s petition remains improperly filed and that the only court with the proper jurisdiction over her case is in Louisiana, where she is currently detained. In a Vermont hearing on Monday, the district court will consider its jurisdiction over Öztürk’s case.
On April 9, the Tufts Community Union Senate Elections Commission hosted their annual meet-and-greet event with candidates running for seats on the Senate, the Judiciary and the Committee on Student Life. The event offered Tufts students the opportunity to speak with candidates prior to TCU elections, which are occurring from April 10 to Saturday at noon.
On Monday, the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life hosted Democrat Seth Moulton, the representative forMassachusetts’s 6th congressional district. This event was co-sponsored by the Department of Political Science, Tufts ACTION, the Tufts Federalist Society and the Tufts Democrats.
The Office of Residential Life & Learning notified students on Feb. 25 that the Russian/Slavic and Central Asian Culture House will pause for the next academic year.“ Interest in the house is very low and Residential Life isn’t able to offer the Russian, Slavic, and Central Asian Culture House next year,” ResLife wrote in an email to students who had been offered a place in the house next year.
On March 3, the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life welcomed Cong Tony Sun as the new executive administrative dean. As the first executive administrative dean of Tisch College, he is at the forefront of developing the institution’s administrative and financial policies.
The Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life hosted Oren Cass, conservative economist, author and founder ofAmerican Compass, to give a talk cosponsored by the Tufts Federalist Society and Tufts Republicans on Tuesday.
The visas of two Tufts graduate students have been terminated by the federal government, including the visa of Rümeysa Öztürk. The university confirmed on Monday that the federal government terminated the visa of a second graduate student on Thursday but did not disclose their identity.
Tufts University Prison Initiative of Tisch College held its fourth annual symposium on restorative justice and higher education on March 31. The event featured formerly incarcerated students, graduates and Tufts undergraduate students who work as teaching assistants in prisons and as program assistants in the Tufts Education Reentry Network program. The speakers addressed the importance of revolutionizing higher education, as well as the vulnerability and healing process that happens in the classroom.
U.S. District Judge Denise Casper ruled to move Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk’s case to Vermont on Friday, denying the government’s motion to dismiss Öztürk’s habeas corpus petition and request to transfer the case to Louisiana, where Öztürk is currently held.
In a U.S. District Court hearing in Boston Thursday afternoon, lawyers for Rümeysa Öztürk argued over the presiding Massachusetts judge’s jurisdiction over Öztürk’s case while a lawyer from the Department of Justice argued it should be transferred to a court in Louisiana, where Öztürk is currently being held.
Tufts first-year students Jesse Kitumba and Thomas Yi founded The Political Union, a campus club that will serve as a forum for structured, nonpartisan academic debate. “We exist to discuss and debate political issues today, and we want it to be a space where we can academically and intellectually challenge ourselves and others,” Yi said. “We’re going to be more confined to the political [topics].”
Tufts Democrats and Voters of Tomorrow Boston held an event Tuesday evening, bringing students together to directly call elected officials to demand support for Rumeysa Öztürk, a graduate student who was detained on March 25. Apart from this event, students and other supporters have taken several paths to advocate for her release, from participating in protests to signing petitions to donating money to her legal fund.
Beginning in March, all Tufts students and faculty gained free access to every Harvard museum through a program offered by Harvard to local universities for an annual fee.
In a walk-out organized by Coalition for Palestinian Liberation, over 200 students and local residents rallied outside Ballou Hall, calling for the release of Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk and for the university to condemn her detainment.
A group of Jewish professors, lecturers and staff members sent a letter on Monday calling on University President Sunil Kumar and Provost and Senior Vice President Caroline Genco to resist equating criticisms of Israel with antisemitism. The letter also urges Kumar and Genco to defend students with legal support, if necessary, and requests a meeting with Kumar himself.
The Tufts Community Union Senate discussed new bylaws concerning community senators, discussed changes to the resolution process and handled supplementary funding requests in their March 30 meeting.
The mailroom for the Medford/Somerville campus will be moving locations for the 2025–26 school year to the current basement of the Tufts Bookstore, which inhabits part of the Mayer Campus Center. The mailroom is currently located on 389 Boston Ave. in the lower level of Hill Hall.
