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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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University

BREAKING: Visa status of 3 Tufts students restored by ICE

By Samantha Eng | April 25

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. 

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Former Zeta Psi fraternity house set to be demolished

By Michael Onysko | April 25

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.

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University

Kumar co-signs letter with over 200 university presidents pushing back on Trump administration

By Josué Pérez | April 23

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.”

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Tufts Democrats and Tufts Republicans release joint statement condemning detainment of Rümeysa Öztürk

By Shayna Levy | April 22

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.

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UPDATE: Judge denies government appeal, holds that Öztürk must return to Vermont

By Samantha Eng | April 18

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.

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Louisiana federal judge denies bond to Rümeysa Öztürk

By Josué Pérez | April 18

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.

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Fourth annual Earth Fest is held by Sustainable Core Fellows, TUSC, TCU

By Varya Karpinskaya | April 18

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.

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University

‘A risk no matter what’: Professors discuss Kumar’s affidavit supporting Rümeysa Öztürk

By Michael Onysko | April 17

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 ...

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