News

Local

Candidates certified for 2025 Somerville municipal election as withdrawal period ends

By Anika Parr | July 8

The list of certified candidates for Somerville’s municipal election was finalized on Monday following the deadline for candidate withdrawals. According to Nicholas Salerno, chair of the Somerville Elections Commission, the drawing for positions on the September ballot will take place on Tuesday at 10 a.m. Preliminary elections are scheduled for Sep. 16.

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University

SMFA union files unfair labor practice complaint against Tufts following administrative restructure

By Josué Pérez | June 20

Professors of the practice at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts were notified throughout March and April of several changes to the school’s administrative structure. According to an open letter from the union, these changes include revising the structure of deans at the school and consolidating SMFA’s four studio departments into two. The two new department chairs would not be eligible for union membership. 

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University

BREAKING: Tufts full-time lecturers ratify third contract with university

By Josué Pérez | June 18

Tufts full-time union lecturers in the School of Arts and Sciences ratified their third contract with the university on Wednesday. The FTLs, represented by Service Employees International Union Local 509, began negotiations for workload and salary adjustments in April 2024.

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Local

Public safety hearing exposes growing backlash to SoundThinking surveillance in Somerville, Cambridge

By Anika Parr | June 18

The Cambridge Public Safety Committee held a hearing on the police department’s use of SoundThinking, formerly ShotSpotter, on June 2. The gunshot detection system, used in both Cambridge and Somerville, has recently drawn criticism from residents — particularly because both cities are sanctuary cities.

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University

Q&A: Sunil Kumar on federal threats to higher education, the future of Tufts

By Samantha Eng and Arghya Thallapragada | May 16

On April 18, the Daily sat down with University President Sunil Kumar to reflect on his second year as Tufts’ president and discuss the shifting state of higher education.

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News

Daniel Vos reports on his time in News

By Shannon Murphy | May 16

Even before stepping foot on Tufts’ campus, Daniel Vos knew he wanted to be a part of the Daily. “I joined the Daily my [first-year] fall,” Vos said. “I was always interested in journalism in high school, but we didn’t really have a strong newspaper or journalism club, so that was an experience that I was really focused on getting in college.”

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University

TCU Senate budget for campus organizations increases slightly to $3 million for 2025–26 school year

By Evan Vezmar | May 15

The Tufts Community Union Senate confirmed the 2025–26 school year budget for student organizations to be roughly $3 million at its budget meeting on April 20. The budget set is slightly higher than the budget of $2.9 million for the 2024–25 school year. The budget increase comes from an internal reallocation of resources and the continued surplus funding from the COVID-19 pandemic that paused most on-campus activities, according to rising senior Dhruv Sampat, the 2024–25 TCU treasurer and incoming TCU president.

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University

Sam Berman on managing an independent newspaper’s finances

By Josué Pérez | May 15

Graduating senior Sam Berman began his journey in the Daily as business director for the fall 2022 semester and continued leading the Daily’s business department for the rest of his sophomore year. He then went on to be an alumni liaison in fall 2023 alongside Ty Blitstein (LA’24) and a social committee chair in spring 2024 with Megan Amero (LA’24) and graduating senior Siya Bhanshali.

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University

Incoming TCU President Dhruv Sampat on plans to deliver change

By Spenser Walsh | May 14

For rising senior Dhruv Sampat, it’s been a moment long in the making. After winning the 2025 TCU Presidential election a few weeks ago, he will serve as the president of the Tufts Community Union Senate for the 2025–26 academic year. Involved in student government since high school, Sampat will culminate years of experience serving his fellow students, including two years managing the $2.7 million Student Activities Fund as TCU treasurer, with this position.

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News

Marlee Stout’s Tufts story was written in Daily articles, class lessons

By Claire Wood | May 14

Marlee Stout, a graduating senior majoring in child study and human development, wasn’t planning on pursuing journalism in any sense upon entering college. A general interest meeting for the Daily, though, changed her mind.

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News

Cover to cover: Class of 2025’s 4 years at Tufts, reviewed

By Aaron Gruen | May 13

Editor’s note: The 2021–22, 2022–23 and 2023–24 recaps in this article are reprinted from the 2024 Commencement Issue of the Daily, with light edits. 2021–22 The Class of 2025’s first year at Tufts saw the return of majority in-person classes, extracurricular activities and study ...

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University

Q&A: Outgoing TCU President Joel Omolade discusses his term, the Senate’s future

By Carly Hope | May 13

Outgoing Tufts Community Union Senate President Joel Omolade sat down with the Daily to reflect on his presidency and the Senate’s accomplishments. Originally from the Bronx, N.Y., Omolade is a senior majoring in political science and community health and a member of the Children of Cultures of Africa dance team. He is also the former president of Tufts’ resident assistants union.

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Local

Q&A: Mayor Lungo-Koehn shares goals for fourth mayoral campaign, accomplishments as Mayor

By Josué Pérez | May 13

Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn met with the Daily to discuss her initiatives and remaining goals for the city as she begins her fourth reelection campaign for Mayor.

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University

More on-campus housing to come for transfer students next year

By Amelia Sammons | May 12

Tufts plans to offer more on-campus housing to transfer students for the 2025–26 school year. Rising junior Defne Olgun, a 2024–25 TCU trustee representative; Christina Alch, director of residential life and learning; and Perry Doherty, associate director of residential operations, have been involved in the effort to expand housing for transfer students.

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University

Timeline of Rümeysa Öztürk’s detention, subsequent activism and judicial proceedings

By Josué Pérez | May 12

Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on the evening of March 25 on her way to an Iftar dinner. The Tufts community and local residents have demanded that she be released from ICE detention and return to her studies at Tufts. The following article provides a timeline of actions relating to Öztürk’s case and related activism on and off campus as of May 7.

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News

Aaron Gruen, ‘a natural leader,’ departs the Daily

By Matthew Sage | May 12

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.

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University

Rümeysa Öztürk comes home, speaks at press conference in Boston

By Dylan Fee and Josué Pérez | May 11

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.

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University

Rümeysa Öztürk released from ICE custody

By Josué Pérez | May 9

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.

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University

Dhruv Sampat elected TCU president for 2025–26

By Josué Pérez | April 28

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.

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Local

Medford City Council approves updated version of new charter after negotiations with mayor

By Julian Glickman | April 28

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.

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