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University

Tisch College holds annual symposium on restorative justice, higher education

By Varya Karpinskaya | April 7

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.

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Local

Job Creation and Retention Trust Fund Board of Trustees holds meeting regarding potential federal funding cuts

By Eli Brigham | April 7

On March 25, the Somerville Job Creation and Retention Trust Fund Board of Trustees held a meeting to begin brainstorming funding strategies to alleviate potential burdens for organizations that receive such money in the event that federal funding cuts occur.

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University

UPDATE: Judge denies government motion to move Rümeysa Öztürk case to Louisiana

By Samantha Eng | April 4

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.

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University

Lawyers take to District Court to argue Mass. jurisdiction over Rümeysa Öztürk detention

By Samantha Eng and Matthew Sage | April 4

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.

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University

Students form non-partisan political discussion group called The Political Union

By Shayna Levy | April 4

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].”

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Local

Somerville opens applications for the Inclusionary Housing Program’s Consolidated Rental Waitlist

By Carly Hope | April 4

The City of Somerville opened applications for its Inclusionary Housing Program’s new Consolidated Rental Waitlist on April 1. 

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University

Tufts Democrats, Voters of Tomorrow Boston hold call event for Rümeysa Öztürk

By Dylan Fee | April 3

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.

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University

Tufts community gains free access to all Harvard museums

By Zoe Herrmann | April 3

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.

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University

Students walk out at Ballou to demand release of Rümeysa Öztürk

By Samantha Eng and Josué Pérez | April 2

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.

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University

Jewish faculty, staff urge Kumar not to equate Israel criticism with antisemitism

By Aaron Gruen | April 2

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.

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University

TCU Senate discusses changing role of community senators

By Spenser Walsh | April 1

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.

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Local

Medford City Council and school committee begin discussion on fiscal year 2026 budget

By Anika Parr | April 1

The Medford City Council began discussions on the budget for fiscal year 2026 in its March 18 meeting of the Committee of the Whole. Amid uncertainty over federal funding, the council’s priorities included increasing support for public safety, maintaining budget allocations for schools and the library and funding affordable housing research programs, among otherinitiatives.

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University

Campus mailroom to move from Hill Hall to bookstore this fall

By Zach Halverstam | March 31

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.

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Local

Medford City Council votes unanimously to support Tufts full-time lecturers

By Josué Pérez | March 31

The Medford City Council unanimously passed a resolution in support of a contract for Tufts School of Arts and Sciences full-time lecturers in their meeting on Tuesday. The resolution was brought forward by City Council Vice President Kit Collins (LA’15), a Tufts alum. Two lecturers presented at the meeting.

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Local

New ordinance proposal aims to reform Medford’s Human Rights Commission

By Evan Vezmar | March 31

After a yearlong process, the Medford City Council proposed a new draft of the ordinance for the city’s Human Rights Commission. Established to protect the civil rights of Medford residents, particularly on issues of housing, the current version of the ordinance required modernizing, according to City Councilor Justin Tseng, who led the proposal.

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University

Members of Congress demand release of Rümeysa Öztürk in letter to ICE

By Michael Onysko | March 30

In a press conference on Thursday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that the visa of Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk was revoked. On Friday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and over 30 other senators and representatives of Congress released a letter demanding more information regarding the cause and legality of her detainment.

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University

Federal judge orders Rümeysa Öztürk not be removed from United States

By Samantha Eng | March 29

U.S. District Judge Denise Casper for the district of Massachusetts ordered Friday evening that Tufts doctoral student, Rümeysa Öztürk, not be removed from the country unless otherwise ordered by the court. Respondents including Patricia Hyde, acting director of the ICE Boston field office, have until Tuesday to address the amended petition and civil complaint.

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Local

Somerville City Council decision leaves inclusion of divestment ballot question to community

By Samantha Eng and Josué Pérez | March 28

Somerville City Council voted to file a ballot initiative for Somerville’s divestment from companies in business with Israel on Thursday night, requiring activists to collect about 5,500 voter signatures to secure the question a spot on the city’s November ballot. The council’s 9–2 vote was preceded by a rally organized by Somerville for Palestine, attended by hundreds of Somerville community members outside Somerville City Hall.

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University

Tufts students, graduates launch petition for university action after detainment

By Matthew Sage | March 28

Over a thousand current and former students of Tufts University have signed a petition calling for proactive protection of its community members against federal deportations following the detainment of Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts graduate student, earlier this week.

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University

Tufts’ Earth and Climate Sciences Department researchers express uncertainties

By Shayna Levy | March 28

The Department of Earth and Climate Sciences at Tufts is facing uncertainty because of threats to their sources for research funding from federal agencies, including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science Foundation. 

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