Please read the open letter below or on this Google Doc.

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Note: This letter is not spearheaded by Jorge Gomez-Gonzalez, but it was written with their consent.

Dear President of Tufts University and TUPD, 

We learned that on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, two Tufts University police officers showed up unannounced at the off-campus home of Jorge Gomez-Gonzalez (they/them), a Tufts alumnus who recently graduated in May 2022, and gave them a letter that says: 

“You are hereby notified that you are forbidden to enter any property owned by or under the control of Tufts University, including attending events that are otherwise open to the public… if you’re found on any property owned by or under the control of Tufts University, you will be considered a trespasser and you will be subject to immediate arrest.” 

The officer did not notify Gomez-Gonzalez before coming, nor provide any explanation on why they were barred. By getting a TUPD officer to deliver the order and simultaneously banning Gomez-Gonzalez from being on campus, the university is forcing Gomez-Gonzalez to contact the TUPD chief directly to figure out the context behind the order.

We are deeply angry and distressed by the incident because 1) TUPD continues to surveil students even after they graduate, 2) TUPD threatens our sense of safety and privacy at our off-campus homes, and 3) TUPD bans alumni from entering campus without any explanation. 

The harm is exacerbated because Gomez-Gonzalez as a queer and nonbinary Latinx person has also experienced racial violence and microaggressions at the university during their time as a student. In their recent Instagram post, they wrote, “I got blacklisted, lied about, professors started to ignore me when I raised my hand, I got yelled at by deans, people had a certain idea about me so they stayed away from me, the administration had meetings about my Instagram.” As Gomez-Gonzalez seeks to heal from these harmful experiences, it is alarming that Tufts police continue to impinge upon their life. 

Gomez-Gonzalez’s experience is not singular. There is an ongoing pattern that Tufts students, and especially queer, trans, and/or students of color, face micro- and macro- aggressions from the Tufts Police and the University administration, ranging from the rapidly expanding surveillance system to harassment and unannounced interrogation. Some of these experiences have been documented here: 

https://tuftsobserver.org/monitoring-tufts-surveillance-state/ 

http://tuftsobserver.org/reform-or-perform-evaluating-tufts-progress-on-transforming-tupd/ 

http://tuftsobserver.org/whats-there-to-see-questioning-police-presence-on-campus/ 

https://tuftsdaily.com/news/2021/02/08/tufts-announces-results-of-investigation-into-jumbo-statue-mask-incident/ 

Therefore, we demand Tufts University Police Department and the University administration to:

1. Revoke the order immediately; 

2. In a campus wide email, offer a public apology for Gomez-Gonzalez by February 1, 2023 that addresses the violence they experienced. 

However, a public apology is not enough to remedy the harm the university has caused. In order to hold the TUPD and the University administration accountable, we also demand clarity and transparency on the following: 

3. Under what protocols can TUPD show up at a former student’s off-campus housing without any prior notice or explanation? 

4. Under what protocols can TUPD bar a former student from entering the campus?

5. How can students and alumni seek a reparative process from the administration about the racist harms they experience on campus? And what are the tangible steps for that process to happen with care and safety without retaliation? 

University campuses should be a place of joy and love, where all students learn, grow, connect, and thrive. However, the administration continues to operate from a mindset of private property and punitive governance. We trust that the university is capable of being an anti-racist institution, and to be truly anti-racist is to radically refuse all forms of logics that produce systems of harm, and work towards advancing “equity, inclusion, healing, and justice.” (Tony Monaco, 2021)

Another Tufts is Possible. 

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HOW CAN YOU SUPPORT?

Thank you so much for reading this open letter. We would love to call on your support to demand accountability from TUPD and Tufts University administration!