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

If the college chooses to have people attending classes in Boston and acknowledges its responsibility to provide testing, it must also bear the burden of the danger this puts our homeless and low-income community members in.

Don’t ignore our “invisible” community as classes resume this fall

By Billy Brodeur / September 2, 2020

Billy Brodeur is a senior studying comedic arts. On a walk to Paramount my sophomore year, I turned a corner and saw my friend Paul slumped on the ground....

The cloud ahead of us is grim, but to spite the dark mass, I find it necessary to reach for the silver linings that are both large and small, inconsequential and momentous.

Time to look at the silver lining

By Althea Champion, Former Staff / September 1, 2020

In a room full of pessimists, I am the first to say that the world is going to hell. Nowadays, I cannot believe I am alone in that assertion, especially...

Emerson has reported 5,093 total tests have been conducted as of Sunday, with five positives, according to the college's website.

Let off-campus students test somewhere else

By Editorial Board / August 31, 2020

Testing all Emerson students weekly is both a noble goal and a requirement this year. It’s been widely proven that the most effective way to pin down...

Emerson's testing site is located at a Tufts Medical Center facility on the corner of Harrison Ave. and Kneeland St.

Emerson reports three positive COVID-19 tests this week, bringing August total to five

By Charlie McKenna / August 31, 2020

Emerson reported three new positive COVID-19 tests from Aug. 24 to Aug. 30, bringing the community’s  total positive tests to five since testing began...

The entrance to Emerson's Walker Building on Boylston St. (Jakob Menendez/ Beacon Archives, File Photo)

Saturday classes to be held once a month in the fall

By Diana Bravo, Former Copyeditor/Photographer / August 29, 2020

Emerson will hold classes on Saturdays once a month through November this fall to meet federal requirements for maintaining accreditation. Classes will...

Emerson will remove plexiglass dividers installed in classrooms preceding the Fall 2021 semester.

Campus capacity severely limited with new retrofitting measures

By Charlie McKenna / August 27, 2020

The rapidly approaching fall semester will see Emerson’s vertical downtown Boston campus drastically altered due to COVID-19 safety restrictions and...

Usually, my teammates and I are able to shake off a defeat and bounce back in our next game. But the loss of our fall season to COVID-19 was like no other. It meant there was no “next time.”

There’s a new opponent this year: COVID-19

By Jillian Kay / August 24, 2020

Jillian Kay is a middle blocker for the Emerson women’s volleyball team. Kay is a rising sophomore studying broadcast journalism. When COVID-19 cases...

Students crossing the bustling Boylston/Tremont intersection.

We really, really shouldn’t throw parties

By The Editorial Board / August 24, 2020

By now, you may have heard a joke or two leading up to this semester—something like “off to school for a few good weeks” or “don’t make your...

Paramount residence halls are designated as a quarantine and isolation space in the fall for ill and exposed students.

Emerson reports second positive COVID-19 case in two weeks, 0.16 percent positivity rate in new dashboard

By Charlie McKenna / August 24, 2020

Emerson reported a second positive case of COVID-19 on campus Monday afternoon, bringing the college’s positivity rate to 0.16 percent after administering...

Who are the core leaders behind EmersonTogether?

Emerson releases symptom tracker, designed to keep community members with virus symptoms from campus

By Charlie McKenna / August 22, 2020

Emerson released a COVID-19 symptom tracker Friday that will require community members to report their potential symptoms through the Emerson mobile app...

Emerson launches initiative to rebuild the community in upcoming academic year

Students in private on-campus rooms may isolate ‘in place’ if exposed to virus

By Andrew Brinker and Diti Kohli / August 21, 2020

Students housed in single rooms with private bathrooms on campus or in the W Boston hotel may be quarantined and isolated in their own dorm room following...

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

Emerson reports 0.17 percent positive COVID-19 test rate out of 576 tests

By Charlie McKenna / August 20, 2020

Tufts Medical Center has administered 576 COVID-19 tests on Emerson community members to date, President M. Lee Pelton announced in an email Thursday afternoon. One...

The alley entrance to the Walker building casts a beacon of light on the campus.

State to mandate flu shot for college students

By Charlie McKenna / August 19, 2020

All college students will have to get the flu vaccine in the fall when it becomes available, the Massachusetts Department of Health announced Wednesday...

The view of Boylston St. from The Little Building.

Emerson releases disciplinary measures for students who violate COVID-19 safety protocols

By Charlie McKenna / August 18, 2020

Emerson students who violate the college’s COVID-19 safety protocols will be referred to the standard student conduct policy to receive disciplinary...

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

Remote learning is different, but that’s not a bad thing

By The Editorial Board / August 17, 2020

As Emerson moves forward with its reopening plans for the fall semester, many students have raised concerns about the value of online classes. Is it comparable...

The Paramount residence hall will be used to house students potentially exposed to or ill with COVID-19 in the fall.

Paramount to house classes despite quarantine designation

By Charlie McKenna / August 17, 2020

Emerson will hold classes in the Paramount Center in the fall, just below the building’s residential floors that will serve as the college’s designated...

Emerson discloses bulk safety supply purchases, faculty and staff testing details

Emerson discloses bulk safety supply purchases, faculty and staff testing details

By Charlie McKenna / August 12, 2020

Emerson has purchased personal protective equipment and safety supplies in bulk for the coming semester, officials announced Monday afternoon. Included...

The entrance to Emerson's Walker Building on Boylston St. (Jakob Menendez/ Beacon Archives, File Photo)

A weekly email is not enough

By Editorial Board / August 10, 2020

Throughout the summer, Emerson administration has sent students sporadic emails. In June came the announcement that campus would reopen in late August....

The college's dining center will be providing pre-made meals to students during mandatory quarantine.

Students to receive pre-packed meals upon move-in, during quarantine

By Charlie McKenna / August 4, 2020

The college intends to distribute meal packs to students from when they arrive on campus for move-in until they receive their COVID-19 test results and...

Emerson's Kasteel Well campus in Well, Netherlands.

Kasteel Well fall program canceled in a swift change from previous plan

By Diti Kohli, Former Editor-in-Chief / August 4, 2020

The fall Kasteel Well study abroad program has been canceled after the college was unable to secure permission for U.S. citizens to enter the Netherlands,...