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

The Thursday Paper

Illustration Rachel Choi

Letters from the SGA President: We’re investing in the Emerson community, but we need your help

By Nandan Nair, Guest Author / February 12, 2025
We are so back. After a very productive fall semester and much-needed winter break, it’s so nice to be back on campus for the spring semester, my final one in Boston.
The Emerson women's basketball team huddles up before facing the WPI Engineers on Feb. 12, 2025 (Rian Nelson/ Beacon Staff).

Women’s basketball hosts third Mental Health Matters game

By Jordan Pagkalinawan, Dept. Sports Editor / February 12, 2025

The Emerson women’s basketball team came together on Feb. 12 for a cause that went beyond the court. Before facing the WPI Engineers, the Lions hosted...

Nathalie Stutzmann conducts the BSO at Symphony Hall. (Courtesy Robert Torres/BSO)

Nathalie Stutzmann has her Boston Symphony Orchestra conducting debut with ‘The Firebird’

By Max Ardrey, Dept. Living Arts Editor / February 12, 2025

Pristine classical music seeped into the brisk air through the window creases of Symphony Hall last weekend, as the Boston Symphony Orchestra performed...

Jibo sits on a desk in the XR-Studio

How Emerson is—and isn’t—using artificial intelligence in the classroom

By Yogev Toby, Projects Editor / February 12, 2025

On the third floor of the Ansin building, a large square outlined in blue tape is centered on the floor between a camera and a wall-sized screen. With...

Mark Adamo photographed by Daniel Welch. (Courtesy of April Thilbeault)

This 2,400-year-old Ancient Greek comedy might be perfect for Valentine’s Day

By Ryan Yau, Living Arts Editor / February 12, 2025

When Aristophanes dropped “Lysistrata” in 411 BC, Ancient Greece didn’t know how to react. The play follows Lysistrata, a woman who comes up with...

Courtesy of Jiwon Kim.

‘Not a team of friends, but a family of brothers’: ‘Six Years to May’ recounts men’s lacrosse 2024 season

By Merritt Hughes, Dept. Campus Editor / February 12, 2025

Six years ago, Emerson College was a completely different school—it was untouched by the COVID-19 pandemic, Little Building was pre-remodel, Lee Pelton...

Attendees playing Bầu Cua Cá Cọp, a traditional Vietnamese dice game at Pao Arts Center. (Marley Noiwan/ Beacon Correspondent)

Representation in celebration: Pao Arts Center hosts their annual Lunar New Year Festival

By Marley Noiwan, Beacon Correspondent / February 12, 2025

While the Chinatown Lunar New Year Parade commenced with joyful music and lion dancers throughout the neighborhood, the Pao Arts Center on Feb. 9 hosted...

Adam Scott in “Severance,” now streaming on Apple TV+.

Why is ‘Severance’ so underrated?

By Ella Duggan, Opinion Editor / February 12, 2025

“Severance” is a phenomenon. Directed by Ben Stiller, the sci-fi psychological thriller is about employees who undergo a procedure to separate their...

Illustration Molly Boyke

Feeling lonely? You’re not the only one

By Josie Arteaga, Dept. Opinion Editor / February 12, 2025

On Valentine’s Day, I was used to receiving roses and chocolates. Even though they were exclusively from my mom, I always appreciated the gesture and...

A group of Lion Dancers perform in the street during this years Lunar New Year parade. Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025 (Nick Peace/Beacon Staff)

Boston’s Chinatown rings in the Year of the Snake in annual parade

By Sage Jezierski, Staff Writer / February 12, 2025

Hundreds gathered in Boston’s Chinatown to celebrate the annual Lunar New Year parade on Sunday morning, despite the heavy snowfall the night before...

Illustration Rachel Choi

It’s survival of the richest on Musk’s colonized Mars

By Bailey Flaherty, Beacon Contributor / February 12, 2025

For the last two decades, Elon Musk—head of the Department of Government Efficiency, owner of SpaceX, Tesla and X, and the wealthiest person in the world—has...

Bobby MacLean and Alexandra Whisnant, who opened Zuzu's Petals in 2021.

Zuzu’s Petals is Cambridge’s sweetest escape, with no phones allowed

By Hannah Hughes, Staff Writer / February 12, 2025

In Cambridge, the smell of deep, rich chocolate fills the room on Hampshire Street, wafting through shelves of wine bottles, around walls full of polaroids,...

Joanne Chang, the founder of  local Flour Bakery and Cafe, visited the upcoming site of her business' tenth location in the Boston Common concession stand on Feb. 10, 2025. Chang said Flour plans to be serving the bakery's classic sticky buns and bakery treats by April, and said new soft serve will follow suit when it gets warmer. (Izzy Bryars/ Beacon Staff)

Flour Bakery bringing pastries, ice cream, and more to Boston Common this Spring

By Izzy Bryars, Staff Writer / February 12, 2025

Flour Bakery + Cafe’s 10th location will open in April inside the concession stand in the oldest park in the United States—the Boston Common—which...

Students gather on the 8th floor of the Walker Building on Feb. 11, 2025. (Ryan Yau/ Beacon Staff)

Department of Communication Studies brings the gift of Three Kings Day

By Ryan Yau, Living Arts Editor / February 12, 2025

Last Tuesday, students gathered on the eighth floor of Walker Building to take turns cutting a Rosca de Reyes—a Spanish ring-shaped cake—hoping to...

Søren Lind (left) and Larissa Sansour (middle) discuss “Entire Nations Are Built on Fairy Tales” with Dr. Leonie Bradbury (right). (Nick Peace/ Beacon Staff)

‘Entire Nations Are Built on Fairy Tales’: Emerson Contemporary’s newest exhibition gives a voice to Palestine

By Max Ardrey, Dept. Living Arts Editor / February 5, 2025

On Feb. 4, Emerson’s Media Art Gallery opened a new multi-media exhibition: “Entire Nations are Built on Fairy Tales.” The exhibition features two...

Senior Missionary Elder Butt and Assistant to the Bishop Stephen Patterson catch up over holiday fanfare in the Latter-day Saints' chapel gymnasium. (Bryan Liu/ For The Beacon)

Latter-day Saints celebrate Lunar New Year

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / February 5, 2025

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a Lunar New Year party celebrating Chinese culture in their Cambridge chapel last Friday night.  Latter-day...

Playwright Kate Hamill and Director Shana Cooper hug during a workshop of "The Odyssey." (Bryan Liu/ For The Beacon)

After 2000 years, Odysseus finally makes it to Boston

By Bryan Liu, Managing Editor / February 5, 2025

Actor and Playwright Kate Hamill’s latest production, “The Odyssey,” will have its world premiere on Feb. 9 at the American Repertory Theater in...

The alley entrance to the Walker building casts a beacon of light on the campus.

‘My dream would be a refund’: Unfulfilled promises, under-enrollment, and an uncertain future for health and social change students

By Adri Pray and Merritt Hughes / February 5, 2025
A year and a half after its integration into Emerson’s curriculum, the future of the health and social change major remains in limbo as it confronts low enrollment and staffing shortages.
Super Bowl LIX: The unlikable rematch everybody’s going to watch anyways

Super Bowl LIX: The unlikable rematch everybody’s going to watch anyways

By Everest Leach / February 5, 2025

Mere minutes after a James Bradberry holding call gave them a crucial first down, the Kansas City Chiefs kicked a field goal that would serve as the game-winner...