Skip to Main Content
Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College’s only independent, student-run newspaper since 1947

The Berkeley Beacon

Opinion

The Max is laid out in a one-way format, utilizing the traditional back exit as an entrance to accommodate for social distancing in the age of the coronavirus pandemic.

My love letter to The Max that is no more

By Robby Gessel / September 9, 2020

Obviously, a lot has changed on campus because of the pandemic. But what bothers me the most is not the online classes, nor is it the frequent testing,...

Letter: OneEmerson?

Letter: OneEmerson?

By Diego Torres / September 6, 2020

When I see OneEmerson plastered on walls and headlining emails, all I do is think. I think of the students who live through police brutality and racial...

Letter: Ruthanne Madsen, VP of Enrollment, responds to Gina Martin article

Letter: Ruthanne Madsen, VP of Enrollment, responds to Gina Martin article

By Ruthanne Madsen / September 4, 2020

The Office of Financial Aid at Emerson College is devoted to providing access to education for all students with financial need. Unfortunately, inaccurate...

Letter: POWER responds to Gina Martin article

Letter: POWER responds to Gina Martin article

By Emily Cardona, Shruti Rajkumar, Noah Adaikkalam, Jehan Ayesha-Wirasto, Amali Dunmore, Nina Khosla, Max Boone, Eryn McCallum, Lia Kim, Sydney Logan, Jilly Towson, Brittany Adames, Rocío Perez, Sonali Anand, Evonne Johnson, and Marissa Cardenas / September 3, 2020

As members of Protesting Oppression With Educational Reform (POWER), a group working to advocate for BIPOC students, we have a vested interest...

If the college chooses to have people attending classes in Boston and acknowledges its responsibility to provide testing, it must also bear the burden of the danger this puts our homeless and low-income community members in.

Don’t ignore our “invisible” community as classes resume this fall

By Billy Brodeur / September 2, 2020

Billy Brodeur is a senior studying comedic arts. On a walk to Paramount my sophomore year, I turned a corner and saw my friend Paul slumped on the ground....

"I don’t think I’ll ever not love fantasy, but I’m excited for my literary taste to grow with me and read about different experiences."

In quarantine, I revisited my taste in books—and it changed for the better

By Taina Millsap / September 2, 2020

Throughout my entire childhood, I always loved books. I forced my grandma to take me to the bookstore after my Friday classes every week, so that I could...

The cloud ahead of us is grim, but to spite the dark mass, I find it necessary to reach for the silver linings that are both large and small, inconsequential and momentous.

Time to look at the silver lining

By Althea Champion / September 1, 2020

In a room full of pessimists, I am the first to say that the world is going to hell. Nowadays, I cannot believe I am alone in that assertion, especially...

Emerson has reported 5,093 total tests have been conducted as of Sunday, with five positives, according to the college's website.

Let off-campus students test somewhere else

By Editorial Board / August 31, 2020

Testing all Emerson students weekly is both a noble goal and a requirement this year. It’s been widely proven that the most effective way to pin down...

Usually, my teammates and I are able to shake off a defeat and bounce back in our next game. But the loss of our fall season to COVID-19 was like no other. It meant there was no “next time.”

There’s a new opponent this year: COVID-19

By Jillian Kay / August 24, 2020

Jillian Kay is a middle blocker for the Emerson women’s volleyball team. Kay is a rising sophomore studying broadcast journalism. When COVID-19 cases...

Students crossing the bustling Boylston/Tremont intersection.

We really, really shouldn’t throw parties

By The Editorial Board / August 24, 2020

By now, you may have heard a joke or two leading up to this semester—something like “off to school for a few good weeks” or “don’t make your...

Students cross the intersection of Boylston St. and Tremont St.

Remote learning is different, but that’s not a bad thing

By The Editorial Board / August 17, 2020

As Emerson moves forward with its reopening plans for the fall semester, many students have raised concerns about the value of online classes. Is it comparable...

The entrance to Emerson's Walker Building on Boylston St.

A weekly email is not enough

By Editorial Board / August 10, 2020

Throughout the summer, Emerson administration has sent students sporadic emails. In June came the announcement that campus would reopen in late August....

I, along with many people who study, work, or live in between these two countries, am balancing on a wobbly cultural bridge. And it also seems the once-strong international journalism community I used to aspire to be a part of is eroding.

Caught in the middle of the U.S. and China conflict as a journalist

By Jocelyn Yang / August 4, 2020

When I first landed in the U.S. during high school, the customs officer asked me what I wanted to pursue as a career. When I told him journalism, his immediate...

Letter: What will we do with our fear?

Letter: What will we do with our fear?

By Kim McLarin, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director / July 30, 2020

Kim McLarin is a writing, literature, and publishing associate professor and a graduate program director. Dear Emerson Community, These are frightening...

We’re putting faculty and staff in danger

We’re putting faculty and staff in danger

By Editorial Board / July 28, 2020

In a world toppled by the COVID-19 pandemic, Emerson administration gave students a choice: return to an altered campus and participate in a mix of in-person...

I need to know that, when the lives of people with disabilities are placed in students’ hands, students will do everything in their power to keep those of us with disabilities—visible or not—safe.

Don’t be the reason someone gets COVID-19

By Greyson Acquaviva / July 25, 2020

Around this time each year since I officially entered Emerson, I’ve always found myself coming to campus with a certain worry.  As an incoming first-year...

I have learned that as a white person, it is my responsibility to have these discussions no matter how uncomfortable they may feel.

Difficult conversations are one step toward racial equity

By Sophia Speciale / July 23, 2020

Sophia Speciale is a rising senior studying visual and media arts. Like many young couples these days, my ex-boyfriend and I met on the dating app Bumble....

I did so many things to create a sense of belonging for myself in this unfamiliar country by empowering myself with knowledge and experience, only to learn that the future I wanted for so long might not even exist, and this country does not welcome people like me.

The U.S. I wanted to study in no longer exists

By Ziqi Wang / July 8, 2020

My boyfriend texted me right after Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced on Monday that international students would need to leave the U.S....

I shouldn’t have to prove my sports knowledge to men

I shouldn’t have to prove my sports knowledge to men

By Lara Hill / July 8, 2020

Ever since I first became invested in sports, especially football, I have experienced situations where I wasn’t taken seriously due to my gender. As...

Emerson will receive control of the 360-acre campus on Potash Hill out of the agreement. Photo credit: Photography Staff

Letter: Closing of Marlboro College breaches duty and trust

By Dan Daly, Marlboro College Alum / July 6, 2020

Dan Daly is a graduate of Marlboro College residing in Camden, Maine. It seems like writing at this juncture about Marlboro College is a bit like that...