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

Katrina Kusa, a sophomore VMA major at Emerson College, is preparing for the Miss Massachusetts USA pageant. (Yufei Meng/Beacon Staff)

VMA sophomore prepares to compete in the Miss Massachusetts USA pageant

By Bridget Frawley, Staff Writer / February 21, 2024

Scrolling through TikTok in the car, Katrina Kusa saw a video about the Miss Massachusetts USA beauty pageant. She turned to her mom and asked if she thought...

Nostalgic for Harvard: it's not what you think

Nostalgic for Harvard: it’s not what you think

By Bryan Liu, Assistant Opinion Editor / February 23, 2023

I hate CC100: Foundations of Speech Communications—and that has nothing to do with my teacher or my classmates; it’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s...

Kasteel Well’s assistant director of student affairs embraces life’s challenges and community building

Kasteel Well’s assistant director of student affairs embraces life’s challenges and community building

By Maeve Lawler / February 18, 2023

Each semester, a new group of students participating in the Kasteel Well program are welcomed by a medieval castle tucked in the countryside of Well, Limburg....

Proposed Climate Action Plan timeline.

Campus Sustainability Manager invites student feedback on sustainability initiatives

By Parker Garlough / September 28, 2022

In preparation for the development of a new Climate Action Plan at Emerson, Campus Sustainability Manager Jennifer Lamy hosted a virtual sustainability...

Emerson students having classes.

Nearly three years coming: Emerson’s return to a pre-pandemic classroom

By Roe Medovoi-Klotz / September 27, 2022

As Emerson begins its fall semester, students are returning to campus with fewer COVID-19 restrictions. Masks are no longer mandatory in classrooms and...

Illustration by Rachel Choi

‘I can’t comprehend how much money I’m paying’: Students react to tuition raise for academic year

By Olivia LeDuc / September 14, 2022

When Emerson announced it was raising tuition for the 2022-23 academic year, sophomore visual media arts major Elle Mako wondered how she would pay for...

College to host “open hour” amid Russo-Ukrainian conflict

College to host “open hour” amid Russo-Ukrainian conflict

By Adri Pray / February 26, 2022

Emerson will host a “virtual open hour for conversation and support” in light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for community members.  The open...

Makeup Atelier logo, created by Julia Magdziak.

First-years start new student makeup organization

By Karissa Schaefer, Living Arts Editor / February 3, 2022

New student organization Makeup Atelier, created by two first-years in the business of creative enterprises major, is the most recent addition to Emerson’s...

Boylston Street was blanketed in snow on Saturday.

Boston weathers ‘historic’ snowstorm, as strong winds batter campus

By Camilo Fonseca and Frankie Rowley / January 29, 2022

New England is experiencing a winter storm of a magnitude not seen in years, dropping nearly two feet of snow on downtown Boston and enveloping Emerson’s...

Students entering the dining hall.

Campus facilities, meeting spaces and dining to reopen Jan. 24

By Frankie Rowley, News Editor / January 23, 2022

The fitness center, dining facilities, and on-campus meeting spaces will be open for in-person operations beginning Jan. 24, announced college officials...

First year students left to right: Carrie Aubin, Chloe Shaar, Eva Charbonnnier, and Isabella Espejo, calling their parents about the college's decision to shut the Boston campus down.

Timeline: How COVID-19 transformed life at Emerson

By Diti Kohli / March 22, 2021

In the year since the COVID-19 pandemic's first wave swept through the city of Boston, students have been hit by a barrage of  life-altering emails and...

A man walking past the W Hotel on Stuart St.

W Hotel to continue housing students in spring

By Patrick Pierce / November 14, 2020

Emerson will continue to house students and hold classes in the four-star W hotel during the spring semester, extending a deal that put approximately 200...

The outside of City Smoke Shop in Downtown Crossing is boarded up.

Emerson, Boston brace for potential civil unrest as election picture clarifies

By Andrew Brinker / November 4, 2020

A purple sunset settled over Boston early Tuesday evening. The streets, bustling with people in the afternoon, thinned out, as rays of golden light spilled...

Students protest Donald Trump's election in 2016.

Professors recall ‘grim’ days on campus after 2016 election

By Charlie McKenna and Dana Gerber / November 3, 2020

Mark Leccese never opened his briefcase for class on Nov. 9, 2016. That day—just after Donald Trump’s election to the U.S. presidency in 2016—a...

Students gathered in the old Marlboro College dining hall.

Marlboro community attempting to adapt to life in downtown Boston

By Karli Wallace / September 24, 2020

Sarah-May Schultz’s first visit to the old Marlboro College campus, tucked away in the hills of rural Vermont, came when she was just 38 days old. Eighteen...

An ECPD patrol vehicle.

Incident Journal: Student assaulted near campus, trespassing at Union Bank building

September 23, 2020

The Emerson College Police Department provides the Incident Journal to The Beacon every week. Beacon staff edit the Incident Journal for style and clarity...

The college's positivity rate sits at 0.17 percent after 576 tests.

Emerson reopening plan not affected by new Mass. regulations

By Charlie McKenna / July 27, 2020

Emerson will not adjust its reopening plan as it already satisfies new quarantine and testing regulations announced by Gov. Charlie Baker Friday, the college...

Students cross the intersection of Boylston St. and Tremont St.

In-person classes to resume in the fall, college announces

By Diana Bravo and Charlie McKenna / June 10, 2020

The college will reinstate in-person classes for the fall 2020 semester with significant changes to student life following the rapid spread of the COVID-19...

The Potash Hill campus was sold in May for $225,000.

Marlboro students say a premature goodbye to Potash Hill

By Jacob Seitz / March 16, 2020

Over the past three years, Marlboro College student Charlie Hickman hasn’t left Potash Hill for more than a few months at a time. If the proposed Emerson-Marlboro...

Respect college employees with improved communication

Respect college employees with improved communication

By Editorial Board / October 2, 2019

Over the summer, the college switched their employment software from their old system, People Admin, to a new software called Workday. In the process of...