Emerson College's student newspaper

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College's student newspaper

The Berkeley Beacon

Emerson College's student newspaper

The Berkeley Beacon

Spring 2023 Masthead

Shannon Garrido
Editor-in-chief

Shannon Garrido

Shannon Andera Garrido Berges (she/her) currently serves as editor-in-chief, formerly she managed global content and covers news centered around the Caribbean. Her interests include Dominican politics, pop culture, and environmental reporting. She is an undergrad at Emerson...

Sophia Pargas
Content Managing Editor

Sophia Pargas

Sophia Pargas (she/her) is a junior Journalism and Marketing Communications double major from Miami, Florida. She has served as the Beacon’s living arts editor and enjoys this opportunity to be heavily immersed in the happeni...

Hadera McKay
Content Managing Editor

Hadera McKay

Hadera McKay (she/her) is a senior at Emerson College pursuing her BA and accelerated MA in Publishing and Writing. She primarily writes on the convergence of Blackness and pop culture. Her writing has appeared in Catapult and...

Rachel Choi
Multimedia Managing Editor

Rachel Choi

Rachel Choi (she/her) is a WLP major with a concentration in publishing and a minor in PR. She currently serves as the multimedia managing editor and chief copyeditor for the Beacon. She also occasionally contributes to the opinion sect...

Clara Faulkner
Managing Editor and Living Arts Editor

Clara Faulkner

Clara Faulkner holds dual roles at the Beacon, serving as both the Business Director and the Living Arts Editor. Before taking up these positions, she showcased her expertise as an assistant editor, specializing in living arts—a...

Hannah Nguyen
News Editor

Hannah Nguyen

Hannah Nguyen (she/her) is a junior journalism major from North Wales, Pennsylvania. Her work has appeared in publications like The Boston Globe, North Penn Now and AsAmNews. Outside of writing, she enjoys thrifting and painting her ...

Meg Richards
Opinion Editor

Meg Richards

Meg Richards is a first-year student from Richmond, Virginia. She has a double major in journalism and political communications. She mainly writes for the Opinion section, though she dabbles in News and Living Arts. ...

Jordan Pagkalinawan
Sports Editor

Jordan Pagkalinawan

Jordan Pagkalinawan (he/him) hails from Burbank, California, and is the sports editor of The Berkeley Beacon. A sophomore journalism student with a minor in Sports Communication, he spent most of his first year as a staff writer,...

Maddie Barron
Magazine Co-Section Editor

Maddie Barron

Maddie Barron (she/her) is a sophomore WLP major with a minor in journalism and pre-law. She serves as a co-magazine editor and news staff writer for the Beacon. She is the treasurer and social media head for the Round Room Po...

Hailey Akau
Assistant Multimedia Editor and Magazine Co-Section Editor

Hailey Akau

Hailey Akau (she/her) is a writing, literature, and publishing major from Honolulu, Hawaii. She focuses mainly on illustrations and graphics for The Beacon but also contributes the occasional opinion as she sees fit. She also...

Kerin Tsui
Podcast Editor

Kerin Tsui

Kerin Tsui is a junior at Emerson College who majors in journalism. She is co-hosting the Berkeley Beacon Podcast section for Spring 2023. Tsui is from Beijing, China, and she is very interested in broadcast journalism.

Nia Harmon
Podcast Editor

Nia Harmon

Nia Harmon is a first year journalism major from Dallas, Texas. She is currently a writer for the Berkeley Beacon’s news section, podcast co-host for the Spring 2023 semester, entertainment correspondent for WEBN, and vice president of...

Bryan Liu
Assistant Opinion Editor

Bryan Liu

Bryan Liu (they/them) is a sophomore journalist from Jersey who micro-doses on pop culture one social commentary at a time. With a background in living arts, Bryan's feature writing also explores the greater Boston area and Em...

Olivia LeDuc
Assistant News Editor

Olivia LeDuc

Olivia LeDuc (she/her) is a journalism student and assistant editor for the campus coverage of The Beacon’s news section. When she’s not reporting, you can find her crocheting or going on yet another long walk in the city.

Maddie Khaw
Assistant News Editor

Maddie Khaw

Maddie Khaw (she/her) is a sophomore journalism major from Portland, Oregon and serves as the assistant news editor for The Beacon's citywide coverage. She is also minoring in women's, gender, and sexuality studies, and plays on...

Sasha Zirin
Assistant Living Arts Editor

Sasha Zirin

Sasha Zirin (they/them) is a freshman from the Washington, D.C. metro area. They are a creative writing major transferring to journalism. They are a staff writer who enjoys writing for both news and living arts. They are also...

Ryan Yau
Assistant Living Arts Editor

Ryan Yau

Ryan Yau (he/him) is a first-year journalism major from Hong Kong. He writes and edits for the Living Arts section, normally feature stories on artists and arts events in Boston, usually film-related. Occasionally he has an opinion....

Leo Kagan
Assistant Sports Editor

Leo Kagan

Leo Kagan (he/him) is a freshman journalism major from the North Shore of Boston. He currently edits The Beacon’s sports section. He is also a member of Noteworthy, one of Emerson’s a cappella groups. In his spare time, he...

Jason Tulchin
Assistant Sports Editor

Jason Tulchin

Jason Tulchin (he/him) is a senior journalism major from Somers, New York. Jason has been a Correspondent for the Beacon since October 2021 and now serves as the Deputy Sports Editor. Jason enjoys all things combat sports and is...

Rumsha Siddiqui
Kasteel Well Bureau Chief

Rumsha Siddiqui

Rumsha Siddiqui (she/her) is a journalism major from upstate New York. She currently serves as the Kasteel Well Bureau Chief and is keen on writing about the Boston Celtics, film, and television.

Maeve Lawler
Kasteel Well Bureau Chief

Maeve Lawler

Maeve Lawler (she/her) is a second-year Journalism major at Emerson College from Scituate, MA, who previously served as a correspondent and the Deputy Enterprise News Editor. With minors in Political Science and Publishing, she aim...

Kellyn Taylor
Illustrator

Kellyn Taylor

Kellyn Taylor (she/her) is a freshman VMA major from Pell City, Alabama. She currently serves as an illustrator.

Arthur Mansavage
Photographer

Arthur Mansavage

Arthur Mansavage (he/him) is a freshman from Carmel Indiana. He is a Theatre Design/Technology major with a concentration in lighting design and a minor in Journalism. He is a photographer for The Beacon and his work can mostly...

Quinn OConnor
Staff Writer and Copyeditor

Quinn O’Connor

Quinn O’Connor (she/her) is a junior journalism major from Bethlehem, PA and serves as a staff writer and copyeditor for The Beacon. Quinn is also a member of the women’s basketball team at Emerson and enjoys all things hip-hop...

Ryan Forgosh
Staff Writer, News

Ryan Forgosh

Ryan Forgosh (he/him) is a second year journalism student from Manalapan, NJ. He is also the captain of Emerson Esports' Splatoon team and is a reader for Stork Magazine. Twitter: @licoricedog2003 — Instagram: @xandarstormwrai...

Mike McHugh
Staff Writer, News

Mike McHugh

Mike McHugh is a senior journalism major and sociology minor from Reading, MA who currently works as a staff writer for The Beacon’s news section. He joined the Beacon in Fall of 2021 as a correspondent after transferring from...

Aidan Crooke
Staff Writer, Sports

Aidan Crooke

Aidan Crooke (he/him) is a sophomore sports communications major hailing from Lenoir, North Carolina. Crooke's work focuses on the UFC, NBA, and NFL, mainly in his work with Crooke's Cage. Outside of the Beacon, he can likely...

Vani Hanamirian
Staff Writer, Sports

Vani Hanamirian

Vani Hanamirian is a staff writer for The Beacon's sports section. She loves to write, watch, and play sports. She also enjoys hiking and trying new food in Chinatown. She is a first year, and she's excited to see what this year h...

Christina Horacio
Staff Writer, Opinion

Christina Horacio

Christina Horacio is a creative writing major graduating in 2024, based in California. She is a freelance writer and writes for The Beacon's opinion section.  

Jackson Bailey
Staff Writer, Living Arts

Jackson Bailey

Jackson is a Writing, Literature and Publishing major who has previously worked with The Beacon as a correspondent. When he isn’t writing about local concerts and art exhibits, Jackson spends his time watching NBA games, snowboarding,...

Karissa Schaefer
Staff Writer, Living Arts

Karissa Schaefer

Karissa Schaefer (She/Her) is a senior journalism major from Long Island, NY, who is also minoring in psychology and publishing. This is her sixth semester writing for The Beacon, and she previously served as the Living Arts editor and ELA Bureau Chief. When she’s not...

Adri Pray
Editor-at-large

Adri Pray

Adri Pray (she/her) is a junior journalism student from Cape Cod, MA who formerly worked as the City Content Managing Editor. Previously a correspondent, Assistant Express News Editor, and News Editor, she has written for bot...

Mariyam Quaisar
Editor-at-large

Mariyam Quaisar

Mariyam Quaisar (she/her) is a junior journalism and BCE double major from Brookfield, Connecticut. She served as editor-in-chief and business operations. She loves to share her views on “unconventional” topics and will never turn down a steamy plate of chicken wing...

Camilo Fonseca
Editor-at-large

Camilo Fonseca

Camilo Fonseca is an editor-at-large for the Beacon. He previously served as news editor and as managing editor for campus coverage. Camilo has also contributed to The Boston Globe, as a metro/express correspondent, and The Seattle...

Vivi Smilgius

Vivi Smilgius

Vivi Smilgius (she/her) is a junior majoring in journalism and minoring in environmental studies. She previously served as The Beacon’s editor-in-chief, assistant news editor and assistant sports editor. Raised in Indiana, Vivi...

Bailey Allen
Former news editor

Bailey Allen

Bailey Allen (she/her), a third-year journalism major from Newport Beach, CA, is The Beacon’s news editor. She previously served as deputy enterprise editor and, before that, a staff writer. She also works as a correspondent...