On March 25, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents detained Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral student at Tufts University on an F-1 student visa, following the publication of an opinion piece she co-wrote in The Tufts Daily. As student journalists, we are appalled and frightened by this detention and by the Trump administration’s many other attacks on free speech.
In this critical time, there is an urgent need to stand against the crackdown on free and open discourse. Resistance to this suppression must come from all corners of our community. As the editorial board of the Record, we reaffirm our commitment to producing independent and transparent reporting and upholding the right to dissent. We call on faculty and the administration to defend free speech.
We want to explicitly reiterate two commitments to our readers. First, we are dedicated to supporting a wide range of viewpoints in our opinions section. We recognize that, at this time, some students may not feel comfortable voicing their opinions in the Record, evidence that the Trump administration’s attempts to silence free journalistic discourse has already resulted in a chilling effect on free speech.
Second, we are committed to accountably, diligently, and promptly reporting on events affecting our community, in line with our recent coverage on the removal of the TAPSI page on the College’s website and uncertainty around the College’s response to a Dear Colleague letter that called on institutions to end race-based programming. As the Trump administration continues to target institutions of higher education, we remain committed to keeping our community informed about national policies and the College’s response to them — which may affect us all.
These are our commitments; we call on the leaders in our community to state their own. The classroom is a crucial aspect of our democracy — we can only question the status quo and improve our society through the kind of open exchange of ideas and reflection that takes place in one. These exchanges occur under the mentorship of our professors and through dialogue with our peers. We ask faculty to commit to this ideal of the classroom. On Tuesday, nearly 900 Yale faculty wrote an open letter calling for “courageous leadership” from their administration in the face of threats to higher education. This is a concrete example: Faculty hold the power to resist.
With news of funding cuts based on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programming, we recognize that faculty may be hesitant to discuss these topics or to defend the value of DEI programming. We must not give in to this hesitancy. Now more than ever, we must make an effort not to insulate our discussions from the current political reality.
Yet, faculty should not have to act without support from the administration.
In an all-campus email on Monday, in addition to addressing rumors that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents were on campus, President Maud S. Mandel announced that the College, along with 85 other schools and organizations, signed an amicus brief that condemns the Trump administration’s weaponization of immigration law to repress freedom of speech.
We applaud the College’s decision to sign the brief and take a stance against heinous attacks on free speech at peer institutions and across the nation. This is just the beginning, however, of a fight that we will need to continue for the foreseeable future. The College must stand firm against the Trump administration’s attempts to suppress lawful speech; an attack on free speech at a peer institution is an attack on free speech here. The College must continue to speak out against assaults on higher education and respond resolutely to new developments.
While we appreciate this first step in standing against the Trump administration’s attacks on free expression, we ask the College to do more. The value of Williams extends beyond our campus. As an institution of higher education, the College should be a public forum and standard bearer for free discourse that serves our society, broadly. The College’s commitment to free speech and open discourse should be made public and clear. We encourage the administration to maintain public allyship with fellow institutions in order to present a united front against these attacks.
Standing firm in these commitments is consistent with Mandel’s policy of institutional neutrality, which states that “it is both right and necessary for [her to speak on] topics related to our core educational mission.” Our core educational mission is at stake. This is not politicking. This is principle.
This editorial represents the opinion of the majority of the board members present at the time of an editorial vote.
Assenting votes: 11
Dissenting votes: 2
Abstaining votes: 2
