Dear SGA,

I am writing as an alumna (WLP, ’07) to express my extreme disappointment with the new constitution, particularly in regards to the funding structure for The Berkeley Beacon. For a college that prides itself on the journalism department, it is extremely dismaying to see the freedom of the press taken away. One of the Beacon’s most important tasks is to cover the SGA and The Beacon cannot do that when her funding is dependent on that very organization. I was only slightly involved with the Beacon during my time at Emerson (I spent a few semesters assisting with copyediting), but I was always extremely proud of the Beacon and the work the student journalists put into it. This decision not only tarnishes the Beacon’s reputation as a news organization but I also feel losing the paper’s constitutional guarantee of funding will lesson the educational value of working on the Beacon. If a student journalist cannot investigate the SGA for fear of hurting the paper’s funding, he or she loses a valuable learning experience.

I urge the SGA and Emerson College to reconsider.

Best,

Lauren MacLeod
Literary Agent, The Strothman Agency
Emerson College, WLP BFA, ’07
Former Emerson Review Editor in Chief