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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

The College Board doesn’t care about you

The College Board doesn’t care about you

By Adri Pray, Content Managing Editor / February 15, 2023

It’s time to stop pretending like there’s anything “advanced” about Advanced Placement classes. Let’s leave the College Board in the past where...

A sign of the COVID testing site of Emerson College and Tufts University.

Monday reports a singular COVID-19 case

By Adri Pray / February 8, 2022

On Monday, Emerson reported one positive COVID-19 test for Friday of the 495 administered, setting the positivity rate at 0.20 percent. Zero cases were...

The college was investigated by the Office of Civil Rights twice in the past five years for complaints of disability discrimination

College to require increased testing, ‘stay-in-room’ policy for spring move-in

By Frankie Rowley / December 22, 2021

A day after delaying the start of the spring semester, college officials on Wednesday detailed plans to resume in-person classes amid an unprecedented...

A sign of the COVID testing site of Emerson College and Tufts University.

College shifts to pooled testing model

By Frankie Rowley / October 29, 2021

Emerson introduced a pooled testing model for all community members this week, a process administrators hope will streamline the college’s testing process.  “The...

Students walk by the Tatte Bakery & Cafe on the corner of Boylston and Tremont.

Long quarantine raises student skepticism, optimism

By Camilo Fonseca / January 29, 2021

The majority of Emerson students living on-campus received their negative COVID-19 test results within hours of moving in between Jan. 21 and Jan. 24....

Emerson's testing site at Tufts Medical Center.

Epidemiologists say risk of college reopening diffused by regulations

By Dana Gerber / January 21, 2021

Emerson is marshaling thousands of students from their homes across the country for the second time this academic year, as the 7-day average of confirmed...

Emerson's testing center at a Tufts Medical Center bookstore on the corner of Kneeland St. and Harrison St.

College to mandate weekly testing for faculty, staff in spring

By Charlie McKenna, Dana Gerber and Karli Wallace / October 29, 2020

Emerson will mandate weekly testing for faculty and staff working on campus during the spring semester after allowing those working on campus this fall...

Emerson's COVID-19 testing center at the corner of Kneeland Street and Harrison Ave.

Emerson admin strengthen COVID-19 testing enforcement amid rising statewide cases

By Andrew Brinker / October 29, 2020

More than eight weeks into the fall semester, Emerson administrators are cracking down on the weekly coronavirus testing requirement for students taking...

A sign on the window of Emerson's coronavirus testing site at Tufts Medical Center.

Administrators hope automatic dashboard updates will eliminate data reporting errors

By Charlie McKenna / October 28, 2020

Emerson’s COVID-19 dashboard is now updated automatically after a string of data reporting errors appeared on the page since its inception in August. When...

When it comes to COVID testing, where’s the accountability?

When it comes to COVID testing, where’s the accountability?

By Editorial Board / October 13, 2020

Since the start of the fall semester, Emerson has taken considerable action to minimize the spread of COVID-19 and prevent outbreaks on campus. Unlike...

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, testing number discrepancies

By Charlie McKenna / October 1, 2020

Emerson reported no new positive COVID-19 tests results Thursday out of 809 total tests, leaving the college’s cumulative positive tests since Aug. 6...

Dylan Scott was quarantined in Paramount for two weeks after being exposed to COVID-19.

Two weeks in Emerson’s Paramount quarantine space

By Dana Gerber / September 22, 2020

Every day for two weeks, Dylan Scott woke up in an empty four-person suite in the Paramount residence hall to the view of sun cast on a brick wall, breakfast...

In swift reversal, Emerson opts for daily COVID-19 updates

In swift reversal, Emerson opts for daily COVID-19 updates

By Diti Kohli / September 8, 2020

In a shift from prior announcements, Emerson administrators vowed Tuesday to begin updating the college’s COVID-19 dashboard daily after more than a...

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

A mix of excitement and anxiety as students return to an altered campus

By Beacon Staff / September 4, 2020

Five months and 11 days after Emerson prematurely shuttered its campuses due to the initial U.S. outbreak of COVID-19, the college officially reopened...

Emerson launches initiative to rebuild the community in upcoming academic year

Reopening is going to plan, administrators say

By Andrew Brinker / September 4, 2020

The first week of Emerson’s reopening put into practice a plan that attempts to continue in-person instruction while staving off COVID-19 outbreaks,...

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 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...

'It was really easy': Students describe ins and outs of the college’s COVID-19 testing procedures

‘It was really easy’: Students describe ins and outs of the college’s COVID-19 testing procedures

By Diti Kohli / August 26, 2020

Several Emerson students who have received COVID-19 testing at Tufts Medical Center—an integral part of the college’s reopening plan—described the...

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...