A declaration by Tufts University in support of a motion filed today by Rümeysa Öztürk’s legal team in Öztürk v. Hyde in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
April 2, 2025
Dear Tufts community,
Please see below a declaration by Tufts University in support of a motion filed today by Rümeysa Öztürk’s legal team in Öztürk v. Hyde in U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
Best regards,
Sunil Kumar
President
DECLARATION OF TUFTS UNIVERSITY
Tufts University (an entity legally known as “The Trustees of Tufts College” and henceforth referred to as “Tufts University”, the “University” or “Tufts”), declares as follows:
1. On Tuesday, March 25, 2025, the University learned that Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts doctoral student from Turkey, was taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security as she was leaving her off-campus apartment in Somerville, Massachusetts. The University understands that she was leaving her home that evening for an Iftar dinner hosted at the Tufts Interfaith Center where she would break her Ramadan fast for the day.
2. At around 6:30 p.m. that evening, the Tufts University Police Department received courtesy notification from the Somerville Police Department that an individual had been detained by federal authorities and that the person in custody might be a Tufts student. We confirmed through our records that the person in question was Rümeysa Öztürk.
3. At 7:32 p.m., Ms. Öztürk’s record in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) was updated to note that her visa was terminated. Prior to that, and at the time of her detention, Ms. Öztürk was in “good immigration standing” according to her record in SEVIS, and both Ms. Öztürk and Tufts had followed the governing regulations for students on visas. The University then received a notice, dated March 25, 2025 and received via email on March 26, 2025 at 10:31 a.m., stating that Rümeysa’s visa was cancelled because she was a “non-immigrant status violator” (citing 237 (a)(1)(C)(i) of the Immigration and Naturalization Act) and/or that the United States believed that her presence in the country would result in “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States” (citing 237 (a)(4)(C)(i)).
4. With her consent, the University can confirm that Ms. Öztürk is a fifth-year* doctoral student in good academic and administrative standing. Her research focuses on how young adults can use social media in positive, prosocial ways and she is described by her faculty as a hard-working student dedicated to her studies and the Tufts community. The University has no information to support the allegations that she was engaged in activities at Tufts that warrant her arrest and detention. The University has seen an outpouring of support for Ms. Öztürk over the last week from Tufts students, faculty and staff. These individuals have described Ms. Öztürk as a valued member of the community, dedicated to her academic pursuits and committed to her colleagues.
5. The University can confirm that Ms. Öztürk was one of several authors of an opinion piece in the student newspaper, The Tufts Daily, published on March 26, 2024, entitled: “Try again, President Kumar: Renewing Calls for Tufts to Adopt March 4 TCU Senate resolutions.” The University declares that this opinion piece was not in violation of any Tufts policies. Further, no complaints were filed with the University or, to our knowledge, outside of the University about this op-ed. The University maintains that the op-ed was consistent with speech permitted by the Declaration on Freedom of Expression adopted by our trustees on November 7, 2009. For the record, a search of The Tufts Daily will reveal op-eds on multiple sides of the issue with opinions that were shared just as strongly as the op-ed Ms. Öztürk co-authored. The University has no further information suggesting that she has acted in a manner that would constitute a violation of the University’s understanding of the Immigration and Naturalization Act.
6. Our international students, faculty, and staff are vital to deliver on the education, teaching, research, and public service mission of Tufts University. The University sponsors 1,818 continuing international students on F-1 visas, alongside 569 alumni who are pursuing post-completion work authorization in the United States, 24 degree and non-degree students on J-1 visas. This is in addition to the broader community of students, faculty, and staff that hold various immigrant and non-immigrant statuses.
7. The free movement of our international community members is therefore essential to the functioning of the University and serving our mission. The University has heard from students, faculty and staff who are forgoing opportunities to speak at international conferences and avoiding or postponing international travel. In the worst cases, many report being fearful of leaving their homes, even to attend and teach classes on campus.
8. The University declares that many of these students will go on to make significant economic and intellectual contributions to the United States and in countries around the world. They will do so by working in or building new companies, through teaching and research in universities and other academic and healthcare institutions, and through public service in the United States and across the globe. The University is confident in its declaration because thousands of Tufts University alumni have received their education while on F-1 visas and have gone on to make a positive impact to the economic prosperity and intellectual success of the United States and in other countries.
9. The undersigned submits this declaration, on behalf of Tufts University, in support of Ms. Öztürk and asks that she receive the due process rights to which she is entitled. Based on everything we know and have shared here, the University seeks relief so that Ms. Öztürk is released without delay so that she can return to complete her studies and finish her degree at Tufts University.
On behalf of the University, the undersigned declares under the penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on April 1, 2025, at Tufts University.
SUNIL KUMAR
PRESIDENT, TUFTS UNIVERSITY
*The official filing mistakenly said she was a third-year doctoral student.