Like many other first-year students arriving at Tufts, Aaron Gruen had little idea of how he’d spend his next four years of college. After auditioning for improv and a cappella groups in search of his niche, Gruen instead turned toward the Daily to try his hand at journalism.
Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk returned to Massachusetts on Saturday and spoke publicly to a crowd of reporters at Boston Logan International Airport following her release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention. Öztürk was joined in speaking by members of her legal team, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., and Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.
U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III ordered Friday that Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk be released from the custody of Immigration Customs and Enforcement. She has been held at a detention facility in Basile, La., since her detainment on March 25. Sessions ordered that Öztürk may return to her home in Somerville and is allowed to travel freely within Massachusetts and Vermont.
Dhruv Sampat will serve as the next president of the student body and the Tufts Community Union Senate for the 2025–26 academic year, according to junior Luca O’Neil, the chair of the TCU Elections Commission. Total election turnout was 9.9% of the student body, which is down from 30.36% turnout in last year’s presidential election. Sampat is the first candidate since 2017 to run uncontested for TCU president.
The Medford City Council passed an updated version of the city’s charter in a 6–1 vote on April 15, nearing the end of a years-long process that now moves to the Massachusetts State House and, ultimately, Medford voters.
Three of nine Tufts international students whose Student and Exchange Visitor Information System records were terminated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement were restored to active status as of Friday morning, according to Patrick Collins, Tufts’ executive director of media relations. The university received no notice of the change in students' visa status from the government but discovered the restorations through ongoing monitoring, according to Collins.
On April 14, the Medford School Committee voted to ratify a contract with the Medford Teachers Association. The motion passed with all present members voting in favor. “I think the teachers union and the negotiating team from the school side did a great job getting the contract settled,” Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn, who abstained from the negotiation because her sister is part of the school system, said. “I am just really, really excited that we got to this resolution.”
Preliminary work has begun on the demolition of the former Tufts chapter of Zeta Psi fraternity at 80 Professors Row, with the structure and its foundation set to be removed by commencement. Tufts purchased the property from the Zeta Psi national organization in 2024 with the intention to demolish the house, given its “severe state of disrepair,” according to a statement from Barbara Stein, vice president for operations. Zeta Psi was disbanded in 2021 for violating Tufts’ COVID-19 guidelines.
University President Sunil Kumar called for “constructive engagement” with 238 university and college leaders in a statement released by the American Association of Colleges & Universities on April 22. The signatories announced that they are speaking with one voice against recent “unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education.”
Tufts Democrats and Tufts Republicans released a joint statement on April 10 condemning the arrest and detainment ofRümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts doctoral student who was detained by Immigrations and Customs Enforcement in Somerville on March 25.
U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III ordered on Friday that Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk be moved to Vermont no later than May 1 from Louisiana where she is currently detained. Sessions concluded that the Vermont district court holds jurisdiction to consider Öztürk’s request for habeas relief.
A Louisiana federal immigration judge denied bond to Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk on Wednesday afternoon. The judge determined that she was a “flight risk and a danger to the community,” according to a supplemental document filed by her legal counsel in her Vermont proceedings. Öztürk’s case was transferred to Vermont on April 4, ordered by a federal judge in Massachusetts.
In anticipation of International Earth Day, the Sustainable CORE Fellows, the Tufts University Social Collective and the Tufts Community Union held Earth Fest on Sunday in Eaton Hall. The event featured a farmer’s market, student vendors, a clothing swap and live music performances from Tufts a cappella group sQ! and a student-led band, Cutting Corners.
Local Medford and Somerville leaders, as well as Massachusetts state leaders, have strengthened their response to the detainment of Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk. Elected officials released a joint statement, and the Medford City Council passed an official resolution for her release.
On March 24, Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne officially announced her reelection bid. She is seeking a third term since her initial election in 2021, facing declared challengers including Somerville City Councilors at-Large Jake Wilson and Willie Burnley Jr., as well as Somerville resident Jason Mackey.
The Office of the President sent a declaration signed by University President Sunil Kumar in support of Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk, in an email to the Tufts community on April 2. Executed on April 1, Kumar’s declaration was filed as an affidavit in a motion for her release ...
The new full cost of attendance for Tufts University will be approximately $96,078 for incoming undergraduate students for the 2025–26 academic year. The estimated total cost of attendance has gone up by $3,911. The cost of attendance for the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences has surpassed $100,000 for international students, reaching a total of $100,682.
The Tufts Community Union Senate debated an appeal on supplementary funding and broader bylaws changes during their meeting on Sunday.
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.
