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Beginning December 18, 2024, Beacon staff will be away from the newsroom for the Emerson College winter break. Daily news coverage will resume on January 13, 2025.
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

Sam Willinger (right) celebrates after scoring a point for the Lions last season.

Senior Spotlight: Willinger reminisces about career ahead of uncertain season

By José Ríos / November 8, 2020

In his past three seasons as a Lion, senior men’s volleyball right side hitter Sam Willinger  worked diligently to change the team’s image and culture....

Joe Biden speaking to students at Emerson's commencement ceremony in 2003.

A look back on Joe Biden’s 2003 Emerson Commencement speech

By Diti Kohli / November 7, 2020

More than 17 years before Joe Biden became the President-elect, he received an honorary doctorate degree from Emerson and commended the college’s graduating...

A polling place at City Hall on Election Day Nov. 3, 2020.

Voting initiatives, mail-in experiences, and a new Supreme Court justice: Election Day on campus

By Drew Ascione, Maximo Aguilar Lawlor and Sophia Boyce / November 3, 2020

In today's special election edition of The 172 Review, host Drew Ascione sat down with Beacon reporter Camilo Fonseca to talk about student...

Tris Arthur dropping off her absentee ballot application in the mailbox outside of the Colonial Theater.

As the election begins, the college gets-out-the-vote

By Camilo Fonseca / November 3, 2020

In the lead up to Election Day, Emerson’s Office of Student Engagement and Leadership established an outreach campaign this semester to encourage students...

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

Emerson reports two new positives, Massachusetts cases fall slightly

By Charlie McKenna / October 20, 2020

Emerson reported two new positive COVID-19 test results Tuesday out of 585 new tests administered on Oct. 20, leaving the college’s cumulative positive...

During quarantine I had to come to terms with my own negative thoughts.

Being OK with not feeling OK

By Taina Millsap / October 14, 2020

As a Latina woman, I’ve always been surrounded by happiness and the mindset that everything is fine. Even my grandma, who fought depression all her life,...

Alpha Phi Omega's recruitment efforts have been greatly impacted by COVID-19.

Student organizations reimagine operations under new restrictions

By Dana Gerber and Ann E. Matica / September 30, 2020

Emerson’s student organizations are facing a herculean task this semester: to reimagine their clubs, most of which depend on in-person interaction, so...

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

Emerson reports no new positives, 235 new tests

By Charlie McKenna / September 30, 2020

Emerson reported no new positive COVID-19 tests results Wednesday out of 235 total tests, leaving the college’s cumulative positive tests since Aug....

Freshman William Blackwell Kinney (left), Derek Delson (second from left) and Maxwell Reid created an activity for incoming freshman to participate in during orientation week: a 24 hour screenplay competition.

In lieu of first-year orientation, three students create DIY screenplay competition

By Lucia Thorne / September 23, 2020

After the pandemic pushed traditional freshman orientation into Zoom, new students Maxwell Reid, Derek Delson, and William Blackwell Kinney decided to...

President M. Lee Pelton.

College places ninth in US News and World Report regional rankings

By Charlie McKenna / September 16, 2020

Emerson landed in a tie for ninth in the annual U.S. News and World Report ranking of top 10 regional universities in the north, marking the fifth year...

Emerson reports three new positive tests since Monday

Emerson reports three new positive tests since Monday

By Charlie McKenna and Diana Bravo / September 3, 2020

Emerson reported three new positive COVID-19 test results between Aug. 30 and Sept. 2, bringing the community’s positive tests to 10 out of 7,422 administered.  One...

Students crossing the bustling Boylston/Tremont intersection.

Total enrollment peaks, undergraduate enrollment lags behind

By Dana Gerber / September 2, 2020

Emerson reported an all-time high in total enrollment for the 2020–21 academic year with 5,411 undergraduate and graduate students attending hybrid or...

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....

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...

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...

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 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...

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...