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

Safta Rachel in her garden.

Behind the Name

By Rachel Hackam / April 3, 2023

When meeting someone new, the first thing you learn about them is their name. A name serves as an identifier, signaling who someone is. A person’s name...

Ash Wednesday at Emerson.

Christian students observe Ash Wednesday with non-denominational service

By Quinn O'Connor and Bailey Allen / February 23, 2023

The Emerson Christian Fellowship and the Center for Spiritual Life hosted an interdenominational Ash Wednesday service in the Reflection Room of 172 Tremont...

Rachel Choi

Meditated so hard my ass cracked: Buddhism is not Islamophobic

By Bryan Liu, Staff Writer / November 9, 2022

When Siddartha Gautama went outside of his opulent palace for the first time and saw poverty, disease, and old age, he drew a central conclusion: existence...

Illustration by Meg Richards

America’s biggest haunted house: the echo chamber

By Meg Richards, Beacon Correspondent / October 26, 2022

Alt-right fringe conservatives are repackaging the same witch-hunt rhetoric that got the likes of Disney’s Sanderson Sisters hanged 400 years ago. The...

Emerson students gathered together in the SPC Theater to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.

New year, new traditions: Emerson Hillel hosts Rosh Hashanah dinner

By Chloe Els / September 28, 2022

On Sunday, around 40 Emerson community members gathered in the Student Performance Center Theater to celebrate Rosh Hashanah.  Rosh Hashanah is the...

"The gurdwara collects people of one following to thank a higher being for their fortunate pasts or pray for better futures. And just like other global houses of worship, it is under fire." / Illustration by Ally Rzesa

Op-ed: Religious Institutions Should Not Have To Pay For Safety

By Diti Kohli / September 4, 2019

The officer at my local gurdwara, a Sikh house of worship, always sat alertly in his SUV. He puzzled over families entering the building, which houses...

We need to practice what we preach—accepting different beliefs and different viewpoints in all realms of identity. / Illustration by Ally Rzesa

Op-ed: Suppressed into spiritual silence

By Diti Kohli / October 25, 2018

Last week, as my Introduction to College Writing class engaged in a conversation about global religious persecution, my professor urged my classmates and...