The Student Government Association wrapped the 2024-25 academic year with a review of all proposed budgets for Emerson’s student organizations at its last general assembly meeting on April 25. 

During the budget discussions, Marketing Communications Senator Ocean Muir made a motion to decrease The Berkeley Beacon’s budget by $2,000 to be allocated to different publishing organizations that receive lower amounts of funding from SGA.

Honors Senator Cole Stevens agreed with the notion saying that there is “controversy every year” involving The Beacon. 

“This past year, Beacon reporters repeatedly have been an antagonistic force at demonstrations,” Stevens said. “What recently came out yesterday … a lot of community members wishing they would not do … [The Beacon] did not listen to the general interest of the community.”

Stevens was referring to student responses to a recently published story that released body camera footage of last spring’s encampment and subsequent arrests. The controversy stemmed from a post made by Boylston Students for Justice in Palestine that criticized The Beacon’s choice to publish the article and named one reporter on the story the group felt had a conflict of interest.

“It is imperative to show our commitment to independent reporting,” Meg Richards, the current news and sports managing editor at The Beacon and the Fall 2025 editor-in-chief, said. “Every day, we receive more and more positive feedback, including from people outside the Emerson community.” 

“The Beacon acts as a pipeline to condition reporters for post-graduate jobs in the industry and holds power to account, which was evident in the article published this week,” Richards added. “Please do not take our money away, we did not even have that much leftover this semester … and printing costs are only going to get more expensive with tariffs.”

Executive Treasurer Oliver Katz said that the general assembly is to be “mindful of the fact [we are] not reducing funding based on personal beliefs toward the members [of student organizations].”

Marketing Communication Senator Jackie Weyker noted that The Beacon is a big draw for incoming Emerson students and asked if the proposed decrease would affect the organization’s ability to print weekly newspapers.

According to Executive President Nandan Nair, yes: “A large majority of the budget is for printing.”

Other students brought up that many student publishing organizations save budget until the end of the year, and all that money goes to printing.

In a roll call vote of 2-10, the amendment to the budget failed and The Beacon maintained its budget request.

Concerns were also brought up at the meeting about the budget for Emerson Independent Video, a production and film organization, and Hillel, an organization for Jewish life, culture, and education. 

For EIV, the discussion focused on how the organization is not inclusive to all students, regardless of major.

“Both of my roommates, visual media arts majors, both experiences involved two people saying racial slurs,” First Generation Low-Income Senator Jazzy Compton said. She added that it was not reported to the Office of Equal Opportunity, but “it should not have happened in the first place.”

Katz said students should feel comfortable reporting to EIV’s e-board and should report to Student Engagement and Leadership. 

“As SGA, we do not have a lot of authority to have those conversations,” Katz said.

Hillel’s funding stayed the same, but some SGA members voiced concerns about the organization not being inclusive to all Jewish voices. 

“[It is] an exclusive space that does not represent all Jewish students on campus,” Stevens said.

Compton made her first motion in SGA for Hillel to remain with its original budget. In a roll call vote of 7-3 with nine abstentions, the amendment to the budget passed, and Hillel received a flatfund, the same amount of funding, for the next academic year. 

The resolution, S. Res. 8, approving all of the student organization budget, was adopted in a roll call vote of 17-0. Organizations are able to appeal in the fall.

Many other organizations were granted small increases based on the remaining organizations and remaining funds after the Financial Advisory Board’s initial review of others. 

SGA also continued discussing S. Res. 10, a resolution standing in solidarity with the two terminated resident assistants from April 14, offered by Katz at the last general assembly meeting.

“It is a real shame that we have seen two RAs fired for protest related conduct so close to the end of the year,” Katz said.

Wallace noted that the college’s RAs are some of the most effective organizers on campus. 

“They materialized a union last academic year, which was crazy impressive,” Wallace said.

Muir added that the two RAs were incredibly good at their job.

“They did care about it a lot,” Muir said. “To not even have the people who are good at their job … considered important enough to be treated well … it does not bode well for anyone else.”

In a roll call vote of 19-0, the resolution passed. 

Editor’s note: Meg Richards is a managing editor at The Beacon. Richards was not involved in the reporting or editing of this story.