While the majority of Emerson students vacated the Little Building for spring break, one floor of the dorm building remained active, occupied with Boston Architectural College students who described a mix of stress over a series of architecture projects and concerns about break policies.

“Because our schedules don’t overlap … it becomes a bit stressful,” said second-year BAC student, Eliana Dominguez.

Emerson’s spring break took place from March 8 to March 16, a week before BAC’s spring break from March 15 to March 23. During Emerson’s break period, all dining options on campus were closed, requiring those staying on campus, both Emerson and BAC students, to plan ahead to provide themselves meals.

A week before Emerson’s spring break was set to start, plans from BAC had not been finalized to provide their students with food. As the days passed by, BAC started to feel that stress added onto their anxieties about their final and midterm projects.

“We have a final due [March 10]. [Emerson students] are leaving, and then we have a final due, and we’re not going to get food,” said first-year student Benton Bailey.

Emerson suggested alternatives for students to acquire meals, but specific compensation for the BAC students came from the architecture college itself.

“All students residing on campus for breaks can use the residential kitchens, and can also use their board bucks at any off campus vendor that accepts them, such as Pick N’ Roll,” wrote Danielle Merrill, director of Housing and Residential Education, in a statement to The Beacon. “Boston Architectural College has also taken additional steps to provide support to their students for meals during this time and we are working together to communicate this information to their students.” 

These plans eventually came to fruition, and the architecture students staying at Emerson over the break received a $100 gift card to Trader Joe’s from BAC, which the students felt adequately met their needs.

“The gift card initiative by our college was amazing,” said second-year student, Vinamr Gulati. “Personally, I was able to perfectly plan out the spring break in terms of meals … There was no time where I felt I was running short of money on the gift card.”

“We just had to fend for ourselves,” Bailey added. “I think it worked out fine.”

Alongside the change in dining, Emerson maintains a no-guest policy that also applies to the BAC students while the residence halls are closed.

“With the guest policy getting shut down while we’re here, it hinders a lot of what we’re trying to do,” Dominguez said as she tries to plan ahead for the end of the semester. 

Dominguez explained how she lives only an hour away from Emerson’s campus, and she usually has her parents help move heavy items in and out of her dorm. Dominguez hoped to get a head start on the move out process before the BAC semester ends on May 10, but with the dorms closed, this process was halted for her family. 

Dominguez said an additional issue that other BAC students have expressed throughout the academic year is the “stumped” communications between Emerson, BAC, and the students. Emerson’s spring break period revitalized those concerns for the BAC students. 

“I know that [BAC] is trying to work on [communications], but because we are such a small school, we don’t have a lot of finances,” said Bailey. “They are trying to balance how to feed their students without not being able to pay our teachers.”

“We don’t know who to go to all of the time,” Dominguez added. “Even if we asked our [Office of Student Life] people, they have to relay that message to Emerson, then Emerson will have to get back to them, and then [they get back] to us.”

As Emerson’s spring break came to an end and BAC students’ concerns were alleviated as they headed into theirs, the architecture students reminisced on the quiet past week.

“It feels a lot like the beginning of last semester when Emerson [students] hadn’t moved in yet and it was just BAC [students] and the [security guard],” said Bailey.

The lack of Emerson students to fill the lounges and kitchen areas also left more spaces available for the BAC students to use.

“I did get a chance to use much more of the … lounges in the Little Building,” Gulati said. “I got a chance to make food this semester, and that was an experience in itself.”

While the quiet was a nice and peaceful atmosphere for many of the BAC students as they worked on their projects, Bailey said he did feel the emptiness left by the Emerson students.

“The experience of working on a final is a little traumatic,” Bailey said. “Sometimes it’s nice when you are working in the [common room] and some of the Emerson kids come and stop by and check in on you.”

“It is nice to have them there on those occasions … having that little bit of support,” he said.