Editor’s Note: One interview subject’s comments have been removed after publication, upon their request.

Emerson College’s freshman class arrived on campus like any other, filling the streets around campus and the halls of Little Building with excitement, noise, and move-in carts. 

Each comes with their own story and reasons for attending, but all who did are unique in a different way too: they are part of the smallest freshman class the college has seen in years.

Following campus turmoil last semester, President Jay Bernhardt announced in June that the college experienced a significant enrollment shortfall, leading to less than 11,000 total applications for the 2024–2025 academic year and more than 850 deposit submissions.

However, many students in the class of 2028 said that the unrest on Emerson’s campus last spring had little effect on their decision to attend.

Luca Ferreri, a visual and media arts major, said Emerson was the best school he got into, and he didn’t see declining to enroll for political reasons as an option available to him.

“I would prefer political expression to be allowed on campus,” Ferreri said. “But I didn’t have a choice in the matter.”

Instead, many freshmen highlighted Emerson’s extensive alumni network, highly ranked and specialized major communication programs, and its prime location in the center of Boston as the characteristics that drew them to the school and helped them decide to enroll.

“Besides the price tag, I feel like Emerson had all the elements I was looking for,” said Madalyn Jimiera, a journalism major from Bucks County, PA.

Daphne Chandler, a freshman writing, literature and publishing major, said she liked how Emerson was a small school with close connections, but in a major city.

“It felt like [it] could really help me facilitate my place in the world and beyond college,” Chandler said.

Chandler said that for her, academics were “the most important thing,” in picking a college above anything else. 

“I really tried to ignore a lot of the stuff that was happening, not in a bad way, but I was just really focused on classes and the school itself and not really the outside world affecting it because so many colleges are going through that right now,” Chandler said.

Hayden Murray, a comedic arts major from Albany, NY., shared a similar experience. While he said he was passionate about “the Palestine issue,” Murray decided to come to Emerson because it was the only school that had his major.

“I didn’t think I’d get into the major that I chose because of how selective it was,” Murray said. “So I sort of selfishly had to weigh the options … I was thinking for myself in that regard, that I wanted to be a part of this major.”

For Chandler, the energy and openness to expression that she felt when she first visited Emerson’s campus catapulted it to the number one school on her list. She said that when she toured campus, the guide didn’t shy away from discussing the school’s controversies and that the acknowledgment solidified that free expression was valued here.

 “It just felt so much so like a perfect campus … They were so open about it that it really felt like this was a place where people could just like learn and be honest about what was happening, what was going on, and where we were in the world,” Chandler said.

Victoria Ormano is a stage production major in the BFA program. For her, it was Emerson’s highly regarded theater program that attracted her to the school, in addition to its specialization, allowing her to pursue stage management.

​​”I wanted to find a school with a really good theater program that was in a major city that wasn’t Los Angeles,” Ormano said.

For Ormano, the reaction to campus protests at Emerson was a deciding factor in her choice to enroll, but not in the way it was for many others. Ormano was admitted to and considered attending the University of Southern California (USC), but the university soon also faced backlash after 93 protesters were arrested for taking part in a pro-Palestinian encampment on its campus last April. 

“Their controversy with how they dealt with Palestine issues was way worse than Emerson,” Ormano said. 

Ormano said that she decided not to attend USC after the school canceled the commencement speech of outspoken valedictorian and pro-Palestinian Muslim student, Asna Tabassum, citing safety concerns in a move that many called a suppression of free speech.

“That’s awful,” Ormano said. “You can’t take away all the work that she’s done just because she wants to advocate for an issue when that’s what you try to teach your students to do.”

She said that she feels that free speech protections are “definitely” better at Emerson, despite the college receiving criticism for its protest policies.

Zoe Weill, a theater and performance major from North Jersey, also found herself attracted to the school for its small and personalized class size and renowned theater program. 

Weill said that applying as a Jewish student who grew up going to Israel, the Pro-Palestinian protests on campus didn’t cause her concern, but it did for her Israeli mother.

“My personal beliefs have always been very in alignment with the people at this campus, so I haven’t minded, but my parents were definitely a little on the fence,” Weill said.

Despite this, she said she knew Emerson was the right college for her. 

“The fact that students are brave enough and able to speak for what they believe in even if I was to theoretically disagree, was just honestly another reason that I was like, ‘yeah, I want to come here,’” Weill said.

Weill said she was “really nervous” to express her Jewish identity when first arriving on campus, especially when she found out her roommate was a member of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), but that in the end she felt accepted. 

“Everyone who I’ve talked to [about] where I’m from or my family history has honestly been really kind,” Weill said. “[My roommate] was just the most wonderful person … and we had a really productive discussion.”

Some students, like Marco Perez-Gonzalez, a freshman business of creative communication enterprises major from Seaford, Del., said hearing about the protesting on campus made them “more attracted,” to Emerson.

“I just love the community here and their activist stance and I think I really respected that and wanted to be a part of that,” Perez-Gonzalez said.

He said that seeing many other students openly share their beliefs made him feel safe to express his as well.

“I think it made me very comfortable to speak my mind here,” Perez-Gonzalez said.

Kristen Ramos is a business of creative enterprises major and a foreign exchange student from Mexico.

She said she found out about Emerson while living in Lugano, Switzerland, and attending Franklin University, one of Emerson’s global partners where students can split time between the two schools in completing their undergrad.

Ramos’ first impressions of Emerson were positive, and the events of last spring did not impact her coming to Emerson.

“I think you should weigh your options and [decide] what’s really important for you. If you’re really into your career, it won’t matter,” Ramos said. “Everyone has their own point of view … [and] honestly, you don’t know [what it will really be like] until you’re here.”

Coming from a traditionally religious Mexican-Catholic background and Catholic schooling, the diverse expression at Emerson was a big shift, but also something that she has enjoyed, she said.

“[Growing up it was a] really silenced background where you’re not supposed to talk about important stuff … [like] homosexuality, wars, and uncomfortable stuff,” Ramos said. “And here I don’t feel that at all.”

While many students praised the community at Emerson, others like Ferreri were surprised about the cultural realities of attending a small liberal arts school.

“I’ve had a little bit of a culture shock here. The people here are a little bit all up in your business,” Ferreri said. “It’s a small school in a way that I didn’t expect. I expected a little more privacy, and there’s none here.”

Weill also said that some students at Emerson have not been understanding of other people’s circumstances, specifically regarding shared living etiquette. 

“I’ve disliked how judgmental people can be without understanding people’s circumstances,” Weill said. “Definitely part of that is from having a bunch of 18-year-olds live together in a building … but I would say that I expected it to be a little less.”

“The way that Emerson is often marketed is as a very accepting place so it was a little bit surprising to me,” Weill added.

Overall, many members of the class of 2028 said that their college experience so far has lived up to or exceeded their expectations of what Emerson would be.

“[I feel like] everyone’s very excited to be here,” Weill said.