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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

Emerson College buildings in Downtown Boston on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff, File)

Letter: Emerson needs a real plan to rebuild our campus culture

By Angus Abercrombie, Guest Author / March 19, 2025

It’s been almost a year since our campus watched 118 people get violently arrested in the Boylston Place alleyway. The next day, I worked to ensure the...

The Emerson College Little Building dorm on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff, File)

Letter: Emerson College must act now to protect its most vulnerable students

As students and members of the Emerson College community, we are demanding immediate action from the administration to protect our most vulnerable peers—immigrant, refugee, and international students—whose safety is increasingly at risk.
Talia Suskauer and Max Chernin in the National Tour of PARADE, photo by Joan Marcus

Review: ‘Parade’ marches into the Colonial, telling a story that is still timely today

By Hannah Hughes, Staff Writer / March 19, 2025

The Tony Award-winning revival of Jason Robert Brown’s musical “Parade” marched into Emerson’s Colonial Theater on March 11.  “Parade”...

Emerson College Walker Building in Boston on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Arthur Mansavage/ Beacon Staff, File)

Letter: I have no syllabus for teaching during a fascist takeover of the country

By P Carl, Guest Author / March 19, 2025

I returned to campus yesterday to teach my first class since spring break. I rarely go anywhere over spring break, but this year, I decided I wanted to...

Example of a ranked choice ballot. Rank up to 5 candidates (Optional). Fill only 1 oval in each column.

Boston needs ranked choice voting, and Emerson should be on board

By Katherine Asselin, Beacon Contributor / March 6, 2025

Emerson students are filmmakers, writers, artists, journalists, performers, storytellers, activists—and often more than one of those. We are opinionated...

Illustration Rachel Choi

Maine Gov. Janet Mills set the example—now, other elected figures must follow it

By Ella Duggan and Tess Gleason / March 5, 2025

When Maine Governor Janet Mills stood up to President Donald Trump on Feb. 21 after he demanded Maine comply with his executive order banning transgender...

Illustration Rachel Choi

Trump thinks drag performers target youths. He’s the real threat.

By Charlie Desjardins, Beacon Contributor / February 19, 2025

Ben Folds, a masterful pianist and singer-songwriter, has soundtracked my life with his acerbic wit and penchant for singing about losers.  As I’ve...

Illustration Rachel Choi

Emerson, it’s time to get political

By Emma Siebold, Beacon Correspondent / January 30, 2025

Last semester, the Emerson College administration attempted to heal a fractured community with Band-Aids and duct tape. Despite measures like the EmersonTogether...

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey shakes hands with moderator and Globe climate reporter Sabrina Shankman at the conclusion of Thursday's panel discussion on building the climate workforce at Day 2 of the Boston Globe Summit on September 26, 2024 (Bryan Hecht / Beacon Staff).

Governor Maura Healey proposes criminal background checks for emergency shelter applicants

By Adam Nuñez, Staff Writer / January 29, 2025
The change would require adult applicants to “disclose criminal convictions in Massachusetts and elsewhere” as well as consent to Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) checks as part of the application process.
Illustration Rachel Choi

As a creator, the TikTok ban has alarming implications for us all

By Madison McMahon, Beacon Contributor / January 29, 2025

When all the Supreme Court opinions and congressional news coverage told me in no uncertain terms that TikTok would be banned in the United States, I cried.  Over...

Illustration Kellyn Taylor

The TikTok ban stunned America. The political agenda behind it should too.

By Bailey Flaherty, Beacon Contributor / January 29, 2025

On the evening of Jan. 18, TikTok’s American ban went into effect. Of course, mass panic ensued when the app shut down and all the phone addicts of...

A vendor pulls his cart of Trump merchandise towards the crowds waiting outside the Capital One Arena for President  Trump’s rally. Monday, Jan. 20, 2024. (Nick Peace/Beacon Staff)

Trump loyalists ring in a ‘golden age of America’ outside Capitol Building

By Izzy Bryars and Rian Nelson / January 23, 2025

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Huddled in groups, braving extreme cold, and bundled up in mittens and hats, supporters of President Donald Trump stared at phone screens...

Illustration Rachel Choi

Is this the American Dream?

By Josie Arteaga, Dept. Opinion Editor / January 22, 2025
As President Donald Trump raised his right hand, I felt the knot in my stomach tighten. It’s a strange feeling, watching a nation change when you’re not part of it.
Illustration Rachel Choi

We can only fight for a better future if we hope for one too

By Ella Duggan, Opinion Editor / January 22, 2025

In four year’s time, none of us will be here. In four years, not a single editor I know will be left in this newsroom. By then, I could walk from Piano...

Illustration Rachel Choi

The blue-collar burden of paying for a Trump economy

By Tess Gleason, Beacon Contributor / January 22, 2025

As the daughter of a blue-collar family from the predominantly lower-middle-class village of Waterford, New York, I’ve shared economic concerns with...

Illustration Rachel Choi

In a barely literate America, a TikTok ban is the least of our concerns

By Ella Duggan, Opinion Editor / January 15, 2025

We have known that there was a possibility that TikTok could be restricted in the United States since early last year. But when Congress and Senate declared...

Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance addresses journalists in the spin room after the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris in Philadelphia on September 10, 2024 (Bryan Hecht / Beacon Staff)

Trump is not the scariest candidate on the ballot: Vance is

By Ella Duggan, Opinion Editor / October 30, 2024
If I saw JD Vance on the street, I wouldn’t cower. I wouldn’t avert my eyes, and I certainly wouldn’t step out of his way. But rest assured, I am afraid of Vance.
Courtesy of Carol M. Highsmith

Politics in Hollywood: where are they heading?

By Max Morin, Beacon Contributor / October 23, 2024
The enemy of progression is three steps forward, and two steps back.
Illustration Rachel Choi

Can Harris govern from ground zero?

By J. L. McCormick, Guest Author / September 16, 2024
I am tired of listening to our political candidates talk about healing our nation, bringing the country back together again, and being a president for all Americans “regardless of political party.”
Illustration Kellyn Taylor

Have important conversations, even when you don’t want to

By Ella Duggan, Opinion Editor / April 24, 2024

Opinion editors are not responsible for agreeing or disagreeing with their writers but rather elevate each individual’s specific voice.  Communication...