The Tufts Daily

07/17/2025

OP-ED | Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up for the first time about her shocking arrest and 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility. She recalls the generous and compassionate women who helped her through this ordeal.

Editor’s note: This article was copublished and edited by Vanity Fair.

The independent student newspaper of Tufts University

07/12/2025

NEWS | In an American Association of University Professors lawsuit against Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the administration’s deportation policy, Peter Hatch, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency official, testified that ICE used Canary Mission for leads in its investigation of noncitizen pro-Palestine student activists.

On Wednesday, Hatch confirmed that a dossier on Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk included her Canary Mission profile, as well as the op-ed she co-wrote in the Daily in March 2024.

Hatch testified that ICE had created a team that compiled over 100 reports of students who had engaged in pro-Palestine activism. He added that ICE used Canary Mission to gather the names and subsequently conduct background reports on them before conducting their arrests.

Josué Pérez reports.

In an American Association of University Professors lawsuit against Secretary of State Marco Rubio for the administration’s deportation policy, Peter Hatch, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency official, testified that ICE used Canary Mission for leads in its investigation of noncitizen p...

07/08/2025

NEWS | 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.

Two candidates were not certified as they did not return their nomination papers: William “Billy” Tauro for mayor and Nicholas R. Miller for Ward 5 city councilor.

Anika Parr reports.

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 a...

06/20/2025

NEWS | 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.

On May 12, the Service Employees International Union Local 509, which represents the PoPs, filed an unfair labor practice complaint against Tufts over the removal of the department chairs from the bargaining unit without proper notice or an opportunity for faculty to vote on the changes. The PoPs at the SMFA remain engaged in contract negotiations with the university, which began in April 2024.

Josué Pérez reports. Link in bio for more.

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 con...

06/19/2025

BREAKING NEWS | 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.

The FTLs announced several changes in their contract: Their new title will be “Teaching Professor,” salaries will be increased by at least 16% with 3% annual raises and professors will receive course equivalences or overage pay for their work, overseen by a faculty-led committee. The professors will receive back pay from Sep. 1, 2024.

The cost of living in the Greater Boston area and student enrollment both outpaced salary adjustments and increases in full-time faculty, according to the union.

According to the FTL union, the cost of living for full-time lecturers has increased by 21% since 2020 while salaries only increased by 13.1%. From 2019–23, undergraduate enrollment in the School of Arts and Sciences increased by 12.4%, while there was only an increase of full-time faculty by 6.8%, according to the union.

Josué Pérez reports.

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.

06/18/2025

NEWS | 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.

Residents who spoke at the meeting criticized the technology as a form of mass surveillance and questioned its effectiveness.

“I don’t trust the ShotSpotter technology to be doing what the representative claims that it does,” Danforth Nicholas, a community member, said during the meeting. “This is not public safety. This is undisclosed surveillance.”

Critics warn that because SoundThinking devices record continuously and can capture conversations, they pose a risk of misuse. Spencer Piston, professor of political science and director of advanced programs at Boston University, cited Paul Greene, a customer support engineer who testified under oath in a Massachusetts case in 2015 about SoundThinking’s recording capabilities.

“ShotSpotter centers record 24 hours a day, seven days a week. A conversation at a normal volume may be recorded by a sensor up to 50 feet away, ” Piston said, recalling the testimony. “In effect, the listening to conversations is continual.”

For some, this is especially troubling because SoundThinking is not funded by the cities of Somerville and Cambridge, but by the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“We know that ICE and DHS, more broadly, are trying very hard to upgrade their capacity,” Piston said. “So, from a sanctuary city perspective, it might not be the best idea to build a surveillance state for them.”

Anika Parr reports.

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 sanc...

05/18/2025

AD | Want to grab an off-campus meal during Tufts Commencement or Reunion weekend, but don't know where to go? Check out this thoughtfully curated dining guide created by graduating seniors who know a thing or two about great nearby eats! Link via QR code or in bio under Tufts Food Media/Jumbo Eats Dining Guide.

05/16/2025

SPORTS | With a goal in the second quarter of a March 23 game against Christopher Newport University, graduating senior attacker Margie Carden became the all-time leading points scorer in Tufts women’s lacrosse history, breaking a record that had stood for almost 30 years.

Carden has been unstoppable throughout her college career, and her accomplishments are almost too many to list. She burst onto the scene as a first-year, scoring 69 goals to break the team single-season record of 62. Seven of those goals came in Tufts’ NCAA Final Four matchup against The College of New Jersey, as her outstanding performance sent Tufts to the title game.

As a sophomore, she tied her own single-season goals record, and in her junior season, she added 59 more goals, breaking the school record of 192 in the process. She holds three of the four top goal-scoring seasons in Tufts history and has received All-NESCAC honors in each of her first three seasons, making the second team in 2022 and the first team in 2023 and 2024. After completely rewriting the program’s record books, she’ll leave Tufts as one of the most decorated athletes the school has ever seen.

Henry Blickenstaff reports.

With a goal in the second quarter of a March 23 game against Christopher Newport, graduating senior attacker Margie Carden became the all-time leading points scorer in Tufts women’s lacrosse history, breaking a record that had stood for almost 30 years.

05/16/2025

EDITORIAL | Tufts students spend upward of 200 days each year at school. While it often feels like so much is going wrong in our world, both near and far, we want to make your time here more enjoyable by drawing attention to some of our favorite parts about life on the Hill.

The Editorial Board writes.

Tufts students spend upward of 200 days each year at school. While it often feels like so much is going wrong in our world, both near and far, we want to make your time here more enjoyable by drawing attention to some of our favorite parts about life on the Hill.

05/16/2025

ARTS | When graduating senior Nate Hall first stepped onto Tufts campus, he had no prior experience in journalism — his high school did not have a paper, and he did not expect to join the Daily. Instead, he was all in on doing theater. However, Hall’s friend, graduating senior and Daily staff writer, Sam Dieringer, first encouraged him to attend DailyCon in the spring of 2022.

After being roped in, Hall was set on being a copy editor. However, through reading and editing the articles of his peers, his interest in writing began to grow, and that same semester, Hall joined the Arts section and began writing reviews.

Jeremy Stern writes.

When graduating senior Nate Hall stepped onto Tufts campus, he had no prior experience in journalism — his high school did not have a paper, and he did not expect to join the Daily. Instead, he was all in on doing theater. However, as per the course of many clubs at Tufts, ...

05/16/2025

FEATURES | If you ask Malia Brandt her first impression of her roommate, Jove Gorsline, her response is simple: “We vibed.” Ray Feinleib thought Richard Diamond was jacked. For Anita Raj and Sara Francis, a mutual love of fantasy novels sealed the deal. Carlos Pulido thought, “Wait, I could be friends with this guy,” about his roommate Max Foley. All of these graduating seniors have been college roommates from orientation week to commencement.

Every Tufts student has a story to tell about their first-year random roommate — especially because just a few questions on a survey is all that determines your fate. Most roommates’ stories end the following May, when the pair parts ways in exchange for a sophomore year suite or dorm shared with closer friends. But for a lucky few, the algorithm finds a perfect match.

Julia Carpi and Sarah Svahn write.

If you ask Malia Brandt her first impression of her roommate, Jove Gorsline, her response is simple: “We vibed.” Ray Feinleib thought Richard Diamond was jacked. For Anita Raj and Sara Francis, a mutual love of fantasy novels sealed the deal. Carlos Pulido thought, “Wait, I could be ...

05/16/2025

NEWS | 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.

Samantha Eng and Arghya Thallapragada report.

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.