The detention of a Tufts University student might force changes in student media policies

When schools and colleges resume after the summer break, the campus newspaper editors and advisers will have a conundrum on their hands: whether to censor editorials and columns criticizing their administrators and the government. This predicament stems from the detention of Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Öztürk by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials on March 25.

The Turkish native, who is on a student visa, was on her way to her friend’s house on March 25 when ICE officials, wearing masks, swooped over her from a street in Somerville, Massachusetts, resembling a scene from Bourne movies. She was released from detention on May 10 following a court order.

What’s Öztürk’s sin?

She co-wrote an opinion piece for the university’s campus publication, The Tufts Daily, slamming the university president Sunil Kumar for not implementing three resolutions passed by the student union.