The inauguration of the first permanent Emerson College president in years. A consequential national election. Over 100 on-campus arrests. 

2024 was a year marked by turbulent and unprecedented events on the local and global stage—and Emerson wasn’t spared some national moments.

Protests and demonstrations in response to the conflicts in the Middle East continued across the U.S., with advocates, including many on Emerson’s campus, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. After 131 people were arrested in connection with two separate protests in the span of two months, Emerson tightened expression and speech policies ahead of the Fall 2024 semester, and the Board of Trustees quietly adopted a stance of institutional neutrality. Subsequent faculty and staff layoffs were announced ahead of the return to campus, and Emerson suspended the Engagement Lab and the Bright Lights Film Series. 

Nationally, Americans elected former president Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency for a second term. The twice-impeached convicted felon beat Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris by a 312-226 Electoral College vote. 

The 2024 race was largely defined by a disastrous first presidential debate between President Joe Biden and Trump, leading to Biden’s dropping out of the race and Harris’s nomination, two Trump assassination attempts, and a surge in social media usage by both campaigns in an effort to engage young voters.

In our newsroom, The Berkeley Beacon website saw an exponential increase in traffic in 2024, resulting in over half a million views this year alone. The most viewed stories of the year included a tribute to the late actor Gavin Creel (which was read more than 31,000 times), protest coverage of an anti-abortion march, and a developing thread on the 2 Boylston Place Alley encampment (each read over 6,000 times). The Beacon’s encampment coverage was also one of the most cited articles on the topic. 

Here are the year’s most impactful stories, as told by The Beacon staff. 

January

January saw the unionization of Emerson’s resident assistants, a feat that came after a unanimous vote to make the group of 86 student workers a member group of OPEIU Local 153. The vote came after the college announced it would not voluntarily recognize the union in November 2023.

Nationally, a lackluster Iowa Caucus saw only 15 percent turnout among registered Republican voters, likely due to record-cold temperatures gripping the state. Democrats did not hold an in-person caucus on Jan. 15 but instead relied on mail-in ballots to declare their party’s winner. 

February

February began with the ratification of a new collective bargaining agreement between the college and the faculty after more than six months of negotiations. The agreement covers salary increases, doubles transit subsidies for public transportation, and allows a one-time opportunity for term faculty to transfer to the more permanent tenure track. 

Later that month, students rallied in the 2B Alley demanding more financial aid and the ability for unaffiliated organizations to organize without penalty. The rally, largely centered around the Princeton Review’s 2023 ranking of Emerson as the worst college in giving out financial aid in the country, was hosted by the Boylston Street Students’ Union—formerly the Emerson College Student Union (ECSU)—Emerson Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), and the college’s chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). The college was ranked the fifth worst college in the country in giving out financial aid in 2024.

March 

Emerson students were arrested for the first time in the institution’s history outside of the Cutler Majestic Theater during President Bernhardt’s inauguration in late March. The thirteen students—of which a dozen were Emerson students—had been protesting against tuition increases, a lack of financial aid and financial transparency, and the college’s silence on the Israel-Hamas war.

In a later interview with The Beacon, President Bernhardt reaffirmed that Emerson would not “take a formal position or take a side in a global dispute that doesn’t directly affect our college and our operations.”

Beyond Boston, Biden and Trump dominated on Super Tuesday. Biden won 77% of the vote in Boston’s Democratic primary, and Trump won 51.3% of votes in the Republican primary. Nationally, Biden won all but one Democratic primary in American Samoa, and Trump won all but two primaries in New Hampshire and Washington, D.C. 

April

Following college campuses across the nation, students supporting the Palestinian liberation movement set up an encampment in the 2B Alley in April, demanding the college divest from Israeli entities and call for a ceasefire in Gaza. Students planned lectures, presentations, and community discussions, and held a Passover seder in the encampment. 

In the early hours of April 25, police arrested 118 people, prompting a unanimous Student Government Association (SGA) vote of “no confidence” in President Bernhardt due to the college’s handling of the encampment and the arrests. A faculty-organized town hall was held in the days after, where students, faculty, staff, and some administrators shared their testimonies while at the encampment and witnessing the arrests.

Many local officials, including Boston City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, called for all cases against the protesters to be dropped. 

May

Emerson admissions events were briefly canceled in May after the arrests, including campus tours. Many students arrested that month prior received community service requirements after appearing in court on May 1. At its meeting on the same day, the Boston City Council called for an “immediate and permanent” ceasefire in Gaza. 

At commencement on May 12, pro-Palestinian demonstrators bore signs, keffiyehs, and decorated caps to protest Emerson’s position on the conflict in the Middle East. Following the ceremony, the college, in a statement to The Beacon, said they were “disappointed” that protesters “disrupted” the ceremony. 

The month ended with the conviction of Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records. Trump is the first president in the nation’s history to be convicted of a crime. 

June

In June, Christie Anglade was appointed to the interim vice presidency for student affairs after long-time VP Jim Hoppe announced that he would depart Emerson in July for a similar VP position at Bowdoin College. His departure sparked mixed reactions from students, as Hoppe was one of the Emerson administrators present at the encampment in the aftermath of the arrests. 

The college later announced it would lay off ten faculty and staff members due to negative enrollment trends. In an email sent to faculty and staff, President Bernhardt cited protests targeting campus events, negative press generated from demonstrations and arrests, and the national attendance trend away from smaller private institutions as potential causes of reduced enrollment. 

July

In response to a housing shortage at Boston Architectural College (BAC) and Emerson’s enrollment decline, the college in July leased a floor in the Little Building to students at BAC for the academic year. The accommodations garnered mixed reactions from those students, as one said to The Beacon: “It’s weird being ‘part of the community,’ but not having that community.”

On the national stage, the presidential election entered an unprecedented period. Trump survived his first assassination attempt of 2024 at a rally on July 13 in Butler, Pa. Four days later, he accepted his party’s nomination for president at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee. 

Biden dropped out of the presidential race near the end of July and swiftly endorsed Harris. She rallied toward the Democratic nomination and set fundraising record after fundraising record, raising $81 million in 24 hours. 

August

In August, Emerson laid off 10 staff members and suspended the Bright Lights Film Series and the Engagement Lab, a cost-saving measure taken to offset the decline in enrollment. After pushback from the college community surrounding the layoffs and suspensions, the college described the decision as “permanent” and irreversible.

Ahead of the return to campus this fall, the administration released new campus demonstration policies and updated its code of community standards that prohibits protest in the 2B Alley and requires students to pre-register demonstrations at pre-approved locations on campus. The Board of Trustees also unanimously adopted a policy of institutional neutrality, stating the college “will not take official positions or issue statements on complex geopolitical issues, nor will [it] consider political pressure in allocating resources or selecting strategic partners.”

In the presidential race, Harris and running mate Minnesota Governor Tim Walz held their first rally as the Democratic ticket in Philadelphia. They later accepted their party’s respective nominations for president and vice president at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. 

September

At Emerson’s September faculty assembly, President Bernhardt identified enrollment, community building, and Emerson branding as his administration’s top priorities. He addressed the earlier announcements regarding staff layoffs and hiring freezes, updated community standards, and campus demonstration policies. 

Harris and Trump faced off in their only debate in Philadelphia on Sept. 10. The candidates clashed on many policy issues, but notable moments, including Trump claiming that Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio, are “eating the dogs,” and Harris claiming that Trump uses the issue of race to “divide the American people,” enticed nearly 70 million people to tune in. The next week, Trump faced his second assassination attempt, further unsettling an already explosive election cycle.

October

Memorials and protests continued across Boston on the anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel. Emerson’s Jewish community members held a memorial on the Boston Common to mourn the lives lost on that day and to call for the release of all hostages. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched from the Israeli Consulate to the 2B Alley and blocked traffic on Storrow Drive to demand a U.S. arms embargo against Israel. 

Less than a month away from the national election, Walz and Republican vice presidential nominee Ohio Senator JD Vance faced off in the sole vice-presidential debate of the election cycle. 

November

In the early hours of Nov. 6, Trump won the 2024 presidential election, defeating Harris in a decisive victory. The former president gained ground in every state compared to his 2016 win—including 160,000 more votes in Mass. this election cycle than in 2016.

Harris conceded the day after during a speech at Howard University in Washington, D.C., and said to a crowd of supporters that she will “never give up the fight for a future where Americans can pursue their dreams, ambitions, and aspirations.” She added that “the fight for our country is always worth it.” 

On campus, Emerson opened a long-awaited 13,000-square-foot fitness center in the lobby of the Piano Row residence hall to replace the leased gym space on Summer Street. The gym, which spans two floors, features cardio and weight-lifting machinery, a weight room, and a sprinting area. 

December

Ahead of Trump’s inauguration in early 2025, the Office of International Student Affairs (OISA) in early December urged international Emerson students to “seriously consider” returning early from winter break, citing “historical precedent.”

And, six months after her interim appointment, Anglade was named the permanent vice president of student affairs. In a statement to the Emerson community, Anglade said she will work to ensure the college is “a place where everyone feels supported, valued, and empowered to thrive.” Paul Dworkis, the college’s CFO and vice president for administration and finance, departed at the end of the semester after five years of service. 

In city politics, Boston City Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson was arrested on public corruption charges relating to an alleged kickback scheme in 2023 where Fernandes Anderson pocketed $7,000 in city funds. Mayor Michelle Wu and many of Fernandes Anderson’s council colleagues called for her resignation, but she has resisted such calls so far. 

100 of the best photos from Beacon photographers in 2024