Student to run marathon, plexiglass removal

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Thursday, February 23, 2022 • Volume 75, Issue 21

Plexiglass shields to be removed from classrooms upon faculty request

Emerson graduate student Carlie Brainard is set to run this year’s Boston Marathon. / Courtesy Carlie Brainard

Emerson graduate student to run Boston Marathon Vivi Smilgius Beacon Staff When Emerson graduate student Carlie Brainard finished her undergraduate degree at Iona College last May, she decided it was time for a new challenge.

“It’s as simple as one night, I decided I wanted to run the Boston Marathon,” she said.

Brainard returned to her home state of Massachusetts to attend graduate school as a writing, literature and publishing student and work at Beacon Press, a non-profit book publisher headquartered in Boston. In her search for something more, she combined aspects of home, physical fitness, and community outreach to make a decision.

She adopted a 16-week training program that includes stretching, running, cross-training, recovery, and rest— albeit not very much. She begins with weekly “foundation runs,” which she completes in variations of speeds,

and tacks on days of hill training. Brainard also intersperses shorter races, like 5ks, into her training to help create the “race day atmosphere.”

She’s also gotten help from her cousin Jeff Cahill, who ran throughout high school, college, and beyond. Cahill, who has completed seven marathons, said he was happy to help Brainard when he found out she planned to run one.

“At first when I heard she was running Boston, I was a little bit shocked,” Cahill said. “But I can tell you one thing: Carlie is very motivated and determined to not only run Boston but to finish. Some people training for Boston feel like they have to run. But one good thing about Carlie is she wants to run and she wants to do her best.”

Brainard reached out to local charities in hopes of getting a sponsor for the marathon since she doesn’t meet the qualifying race times. Her calls were answered when Community Rowing Inc.,

Boston Marathon, Pg. 2

Emerson classroom with plexiglass dividers installed. / Beacon Archives

Vivi Smilgius Beacon Staff

Emerson will remove plexiglass dividers installed in classrooms preceding the Fall 2021 semester.

According to Emerson’s assistant vice president of facilities and campus services Duncan Pollock, the dividers will be removed upon professor request but mobile units will be available.

Pollock also noted that plexiglass in computer labs will “most likely remain” until the end of the 2021-22 academic year.

“I’m thrilled that we’re getting rid of it and counting down the days until it actually happens,” said Cindy Rodriguez, senior Journalist-in-Residence and instructor at Emerson. “Plexiglass makes classroom discussion hard because half the time people can’t really hear unless you’re really projecting your voice.”

Rodriguez is one of many faculty members who are glad to see the plexiglass go. Emerson’s decision follows a request from faculty, who filed a petition-like request to remove the plexiglass shields, according to Douglas Struck, a journalism professor and Senior Journalist-in-Residence at the college. Struck seconded Rodriguez’s sentiments, also citing difficulty hearing students.

“Communicating in a classroom is pretty important,” he said. “I want to be able to listen to [students] and I would like to think they want to listen to me. Those plexiglass shields made it practically impossible

Plexiglass, Pg. 2

Women’s basketball team knocked out of first-round playoff Tyler Foy Beacon Staff

. / Courtesy Xinyan Fu

“Arts in Chinatown” documentary to be screened in Student Performance Center Abigail Lee Beacon Staff A new student documentary focuses on Boston’s Chinatown, a community that many Emerson students are familiar with, but do not fully know.

Senior journalism major Xinyan Fu’s short documentary Arts in Chinatown brings attention to artists in the neighborhood whose work challenges mainstream narratives about Asian immigrants. Originally a project for Fu’s Multimedia Capstone class in the fall,

the documentary will be screened on Monday, Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. in the Student Performance Center.

The screening is co-sponsored by the Office of International Student Affairs (OISA) and Asian Students in Alliance (ASIA). Food from local Chinatown restaurants will be provided for the audience.

The screening is part of an initiative to showcase the work of international students, according to Andrea Popa, Director of OISA. “[Xinyan’s] project was exactly the Student documentary, Pg. 7

Emerson’s women’s basketball lost 73-49 against second-seed Babson College in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference quarterfinals, ending the Lions’ season 8-16.

The Lions reached the playoffs for four straight seasons— five times since joining the NEWMAC in the 2013-14 season— but were eliminated in the first round each year. The past two postseasons, they were beaten by the eventual NEWMAC Champions.

Emerson’s regular season ended with an 84-61 loss to Coast Guard Academy—their third consecutive loss by more than 20 points. The Lions squeezed into the NEWMAC playoffs, securing the seventh and final spot in the conference with a 4-6 record. According to D3Hoops, the women’s basketball team had the 23rd toughest schedule out of 427 teams. Coach Bill Gould said the team performed well with the hand they were dealt.

“My freshmen and sophomores had never played and not one of my kids had ever started a college basketball game,” he said. “We’re probably going to end up with the 23rd toughest schedule in the country out of 427. That’s not nothing. Then some people say ‘look at your record, you didn’t do well,’ That’s crap. I think we did really well.”

The first encounter between Babson and Emerson took place on Feb. 2 in the Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker gym and ended with the Beavers winning 6932. Of the 13 games the colleges have played against each other, Babson has won 12. Their motto, “Defend the Dam,” was in full effect as they were also 7-0

Women’s Basketball, Pg. 8

INSIDE THIS EDITION COVID Update Pg. 3 Difficulties securing on-campus jobs Pg. 3 Opinion: Ukraine crisis Pg. 4 Opinion: Domincan Republic/Haiti border wall Pg. 5 Berklee showcases Black artists Pg. 6 EmStage’s ‘As You Like It’ Review Pg. 7 Men’s Lacrosse return with win against Nichols Pg. 8

481

positive COVID-19 tests

1.41% positivity rate

34,000+ tests completed

*Accumulated from Spring 2022 Semester

News

The Berkeley Beacon

February 24, 2022

2

‘We learn as much from them as they do from us’: ArtsEmerson honors Rocío Pérez and Lemar Archer as Cutler Fellows

The exterior of Cutler Majestic Theatre. / Courtesy Beacon Archives

Adri Pray

Beacon Staff ArtsEmerson recognized two students as its 2022 Cutler Fellows, inducting them into the yearlong program designed to cultivate theater production skills.

The college’s affiliated production company named Rocío Pérez and Lemar Archer for its fellowship, created in 2019, to foster the careers of students in theater-related fields. The program targets those deemed to have demonstrated a dedication to their craft through experience and commitment.

“Through guided inquiry, Fellows investigate the space between community and the arts, an understanding they can then apply in their work as American theatre professionals, and study with guest artists from around the world,” an article about the Fellows read.

Pérez, a senior theatre education and performance major, currently serves as performing arts senator for Emerson’s student-led social justice group POWER, and chairs Flawless Brown, the college’s artist collective for women and non-binary people of color. Archer is a second-year graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in theater education. An educator, actor, dancer, and director, he previously attended the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts in Kingston, Jamaica, and is a member of a Jamaica-based theater group working to bring social issues to light through performance.

“We are so privileged to work with Lemar and Rocío,” said

ArtsEmerson Creative Producer Kevin Becerra in an email to The Beacon. “Their work before the Office of the Arts to make Emerson an empowered space for international students and students of color is in deep alignment with the work of the artistic engagement team at ArtsEmerson. Their approaches building community and analysis of art are invaluable contributions and I’m so excited to see where their work takes them.”

As Cutler Fellows, both Pérez and Archer will work with industry mentors to further their careers.

“Each year we are amazed at what the students bring to the program and how they center the practice in their academic and professional work,” wrote Akiba Abaka, another creative producer at ArtsEmerson. “This year Rocío and Lemar have brought a social justice lens to their work with us in the questions they ask and in the ways that they problem-solve. We learn as much from them as they do from us.”

The fellowship was named in honor of Ted Cutler ‘51, an Emerson alum and trustee emeritus who was a noted patron of the arts.

“This is very much is in the legacy of Teddy Cutler and his way of looking at art and the theater in combination with community as being so important and such a rich part of the landscape of Boston,” said Creative Producer Susan Chinsen.

The program looks to students that have established themselves in their major and are set on per-

forming arts theater work as a profession.

It is split into two halves; in the first, the students work to establish a relationship with their mentors, and in the second, they are expected to take on productions themselves in order for a more hands-on experience, Chinsen said.

ArtsEmerson Director of Artistic Programming Ronee Penoi said she hopes that theater and performance students at Emerson can look at the Cutler Fellow program as a launchpad. Most fellowships of this kind are interchangeable with internships, she said, but they also provide valuable foundational experience.

“It’s not so much about coming in and supporting the work that ArtsEmerson is doing in that internship way,” she said. “It’s more about, holistically, who these individuals are and what the best fit for them is in terms of where they want to go and the work that we’re doing. The intersection of those two things could be of great benefit.”

As a relatively new program, Chinsen said, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, didn’t pose as much of a challenge for them, since they were able to easily adapt to a hybrid model.

“It probably actually helped a little bit that we could be more dynamic, considering how we navigated through COVID,” they said.

“Changing the opportunity for this fellowship to adapt to that probably made us a little bit more fluid and limber.”

Chinsen advised students that want to get involved with the Cutler Fellow program to work with faculty members or become a teaching artist for a play reading book club.

“The ultimate goal is not in the vein of selling tickets, it’s transaction and entertainment,” Penoi said. “While we do hope the work was entertaining, really our ultimate goal is one of civic transformation.”

Pérez and Archer both declined to comment to The Beacon. adrianna_pray@emerson.edu

Plexiglass at 2B entrance to Walker Building. / Courtesy Beacon Archives

College approves removal of plexiglass dividers Cont. from Pg. 1 to do so.”

Heather May, a senior lecturer in Emerson’s Communication Studies department, agreed with Struck, adding that the shields combined with masks, made having authentic discussions difficult.

“You’re already dealing with masks, which are muffling the sound a little bit. If you’re behind the plexiglass, it muffles the sound even more, and you can’t see other people’s lips,” May said. “It can make it really hard to have natural, organic conversation and dialogue.”

Both Struck and May recognized the lack of need for plexiglass shields at Emerson, especially with the college’s weekly testing protocols. While the shields may have provided peace of mind at the beginning of the pandemic, science shows plexiglass shields like the ones in Emerson classrooms do not help prevent the spread of the virus, said May. “At the beginning of the pandemic, people just didn’t know exactly what the best way was to protect each other,” she said.

“What we know now is that masks, combined with the vaccine, is really the best practice for keeping us safe. With the testing protocols and everything that Emerson has, it doesn’t seem like they’re necessary anymore.”

Rodriguez echoed these sentiments, saying she’d also seen studies that showed plexiglass had potential to make things worse by

acting as a COVID echo chamber if an infected person is behind the shield.

The removal of plexiglass shields preceded a series of other changes announced in a community-wide email from Interim President William Gilligan and “COVID Lead” Erik Müürisepp on Feb. 18. The email announced that the college will adopt a more flexible COVID-19 response in which campus protocols will reflect the “ebb and flow” of the virus.

For the first time since the start of the pandemic, for example, Emerson will allow fully vaccinated and boosted non-Emerson guests inside residence halls starting Feb. 22 at 9 a.m.

Starting Mar. 21, the college will adopt a “mask optional” policy for vaccinated and boosted individuals indoors except for in classrooms, the Center for Health and Wellness, and Emerson Counseling and Psychological Services. Emerson aims to be completely mask-optional by May 16 and will return to full capacity operations in all spaces the same day.

Students will continue testing once a week at 116 Harrison Ave., but the college will consider shifting to an optional testing model if positivity rates remain low.

Emerson also announced it will disband its COVID-19 team over the summer.

Camilo Fonseca contributed to reporting. vivi_smilgius@emerson.edu

Grad student trains for Boston Marathon

Cont. from Pg. 1 a Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization that teaches people to row, agreed to support her in the race.

The nonprofit will sponsor Brainard as long as she meets its $7500 fundraising requirement.

The money raised from marathon sponsors will go to its para-rowing programs and their Boston Public Schools Program, Brainard said.

Brainard said her relationship with physical fitness has evolved over the years and that exercise has become a way for her to stabilize her mental health. She believes Community Rowing Inc. aligns with these values, which is why she chose to work with them.

“I realized how much physical fitness has helped my life mentally and physically, and I think it’s something that’s overlooked in the grand scheme of people’s health and mental health problems,” Brainard said. “I definitely wanted an organization that also believed in that and promoted that mission.”

The nonprofit also connected Brainard with fellow sponsors training for the marathon. This running community helps hold her accountable and strive for success, pushing her to improve each day.

Cahill recognized the value of running communities, especially when they’re working towards a common goal and charitable cause.

“It’s always great when you can train with other people. It helps

motivate you and keep you going along the way,” he said. “You want to finish, but you don’t want to let down any of your team members either.”

Balancing her mental and physical health—as well as a full-time job and graduate student course load—has posed entirely different challenges for Brainard as she navigates marathon preparation. Careful planning helps with time management, she said, as she fills gaps in her work and school schedules with weekly workouts. This schedule management has also been a lesson against perfectionism and a reminder that sometimes a rest day is what the body needs.

“If I know I have a particularly grueling or long workout but my

day’s swamped, I’ll look at the pattern of my schedule and see where I can move things around,” Brainard said. “I’m also learning that nothing has to be perfect. I don’t need to be a perfectionist. It’s expected to miss a workout.”

While making time for training means she has a lot on her plate, Brainard said the exercise is a welcome source of stress relief.

“Just because I’m training for a marathon, it doesn’t mean life stops happening,” she said. “Runs are really great ways to clear my mind, and having the overall goal of the marathon has helped me focus on something for a little bit that isn’t affecting my mental health as much.”

The issues the runs themselves can’t alleviate, the running community can. Brainard said the community has helped her re-establish a hometown support system. Transitioning to post-graduate life in Massachusetts has posed a series of hurdles, but friends and family have helped in navigating them, she said.

Above all else, Brainard knows her supporters just want to cheer her on.

“At the end of the day, everybody wants to be at the finish line to watch, which is really nice to know,” she said.

vivi_smilgius@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

February 24, 2022

3

College to change COVID-19 policies Adri Pray

Beacon Staff

2B alley way. / Beacon Archives

Students express frustration regarding on-campus jobs Abigail Lee

Beacon Staff For Gloria Natividade, getting a job during the fall semester was crucial to their ability to support themself financially. Yet the process of finding an on-campus job at Emerson proved to be more difficult than expected.

“I had applied to various positions on campus, all which denied me or didn’t even reach back to me,” they said.

Natividade, a first-year writing, literature and publishing major who had received federal work-study funds for the academic year, eventually secured a job at the residence hall tap desks. Nevertheless, they said they felt the college’s hiring services did not make it easy—especially for students with financial struggles.

“I found it to be extremely discouraging, since Emerson runs on a model of helping students find resources and opportunities,” Natividade said.

First-year public relations major Chloe Chee also struggled to obtain an on-campus job, citing problems communicating with employers. Chee applied to around six jobs during the fall semester and said that the response from hiring managers was often delayed.

“I didn’t get an email back for weeks after [a hiring manager] let me know that they would like to interview me,” she

said.

Chee said she recognized the communication issues could pose financial consequences for students.

“Although I wasn’t in dire need of a job, some people might be,” Chee said.

“Not hearing back from someone can be nerve-wracking for those who really need a job.”

Sage Greenwood, a first-year creative writing major who currently works as an IT help desk assistant, stated that they faced a number of technical issues on Workday, the platform Emerson uses for employment applications.

“It was frustrating because a lot of the times the listing on Workday wouldn’t be closed if the position was filled,” Greenwood said. “They wouldn’t tell you, ‘oh, this position is filled,’ so you’d just wait and not hear anything.”

Christopher Norfleet, the assistant director of student employment, said students should typically be able to see the status of their application on the platform.

“Workday is designed to send notifications if a student has been invited to interview, offered a job, or if the applicant has been declined for the position,” Norfleet said.

Greenwood, however, said some of their applications never changed in status and “stayed open perpetually.” For one job, they realized the listing had been up-

Emerson students react to post-spring break COVID-19 policies Abigail Lee

Beacon Staff Students have mixed feelings about the upcoming masks-optional policy, non-Emerson visitor admittance, and other coming changes in campus COVID protocol.

With spring break quickly approaching, some students—like first-year journalism major Ana Luque—are wary of the dwindling COVID restrictions on-campus as students will be traveling and will not be required to test before coming back to campus.

“When we had Thanksgiving break, I thought it was a really good idea of [the administration] to make us do a test before we came to Emerson and we uploaded the results,” she said. “At least they knew who was positive. But now we’re going to spring break, and we don’t have to do the testing anymore. So what was all this effort?”

The college announced a variety of changes to its COVID-19 protocol in two community-wide communications sent out by college officials on Feb. 9 and Feb. 18. The first communication advised students to take a rapid antigen test prior to their return to campus after the break— though it stated that the college will not require students to complete a negative test attestation.

The second email detailed the permittance of fully vaccinated and boosted non-Emerson guests into the residence halls beginning Feb. 22, as well as the end of the campus mask requirement outside of the classroom beginning Mar. 21.

“The college will begin to move toward

an approach in which it responds to the ebb and flow of the COVID virus as part of institutional operations,” read the email from Associate Vice President of Campus Life Erik Müürisepp, who serves as the college’s “COVID Lead,” and Interim President Bill Gilligan wrote in the email.

Meggie Phan, a first-year journalism major, was apprehensive about the upcoming mask-optional policy due to waning vaccine efficacy after a period of time.

“It’s trash,” Phan said. “I’m from Vietnam—if you don’t wear a mask, you get fined… It’s a social taboo to not wear your mask. People don’t want to get your diseases. I just feel like it’s really stupid because we live downtown and the students might be vaccinated, but as we know, after a period of time, vaccinations aren’t as effective and you have to get booster shots.”

Suffolk County, which includes the City of Boston, reported 165 COVID cases on Wednesday, following a downward trend from the Jan. 10 peak of 9,022 cases.

Massachusetts numbers are also falling, with 1,036 cases reported on Wednesday, trailing the Jan. 10 peak of 64,715 cases.

“I feel like if you just wear masks, stay safe, wash your hands, you’re not going to die,” she continued. “A little extra precaution is just going to make sure everything is a little safer.”

Ethan de Bruyn, a first-year visual and media arts major, also expressed concern about the mask requirement being dropped so soon after the end of spring break, which ends March 13.

“I don’t like that because people are going to travel for Spring Break and I just know there are going to be the people who

dated to state “Position Filled” although they had never received any communication about their application.

According to Norfleet, not all applications are updated right away if hiring managers receive high interest in a position.

“Rather than declining applicants immediately if they aren’t an exact match for the job, hiring managers will do their best to select applicants for an interview that best fit the position and the department’s needs,” Norfleet said.

Greenwood also noticed that at times, they would search up a job position and find duplicates of the listing dated for a past academic year or semester. The outdated listings made the navigation confusing, they said.

Although hiring managers are told to close job listings if the position has been filled, some listings close automatically while others must be closed manually, said Norfleet. Outdated listings may be due to the fact that they were never manually closed.

“Requisitions cannot be closed until all hired students for that particular role have completed the hiring and onboarding process because closing the job can prematurely end…the remaining tasks,” said Norfleet. abigail_lee@emerson.edu think it’s an inconvenience to tell others that they may have been in contact with [COVID-positive] people and then there are also going to be the people that don’t wear [masks],” he said. “So I think there’s going to be a lot of spreading that’s going to happen.”

Other students, such as first-year interdisciplinary major Jillian Hetherman, appreciate the mask-optional policy due to greater ease of participating in school activities. Hetherman, who stage-manages the Musical Theatre Society’s “Tavern Song” production, said she believes that performing without masks would allow for better acting practice.

“With this new optional guideline for people who are comfortable rehearsing without masks, it really helps,” she said.

“Especially in terms of singing and being able to use your full range of acting, if you will be performing without masks.”

Hetherman believes it is naive to assume that students have been following mask guidelines the entire time. With the mask-optional policy, she reasoned, students will no longer need to sneak around. “[A mask-optional policy would] keep us safer because at least you know who doesn’t wear a mask, who goes out more than other people, and who has people in their room without masks on,” Hetherman said. “Eliminating the secrecy with these new guidelines is the best that we have in terms of people knowing what’s happening at all times.”

Despite the shift in requirement, some students—like first-year visual and media arts major Satiene Fortenbach—will still opt for mask-wearing due to caution.

“Even though they’re allowing it, I am probably going to wear it quite often,” Fortenbach said. “It’s great that we are heading in that direction, but we’re so used to wearing them and it’s clearly been working. Sticking with it might be safe just right now.”

Adri Pray contributed reporting. bailey_allen@emerson.edu

Emerson reported 19 positive COVID-19 tests on Wednesday, signifying an uptick in cases on campus and the highest single-day total since 31 cases were reported Jan. 21.

The positive tests come from the 1,219 tests administered Tuesday, setting the daily positivity rate at 1.56 percent. Emerson also reported 17 community members in on-campus isolation. Zero were reported to be in on-campus quarantine.

Those in quarantine may have been exposed to COVID-19 but aren’t experiencing symptoms. Those in isolation are symptomatic, have produced a positive test, or are “reasonably known to be infected,” according to the college. Off-campus students are not counted in the quarantine and isolation numbers.

For the week of Feb. 14 to Feb. 20, 3,815 COVID-19 tests were administered and 19 positives were detected, setting the weekly positivity rate at 0.50 percent. The positivity rate marked the fourth consecutive week below one percent, a feat unmatched since the Fall 2021 semester. As of Jan. 3, Emerson has reported 481 positive cases and administered 34,112 tests. The cumulative positivity rate sits at 1.41 percent.

Interim President William Gilligan and Associate Vice President for Campus Life and “COVID” Lead Erik Müürisepp released an update to the Boston campus’s COVID-19 guidelines Feb. 18.

The email announced a relaxed mandatory mask policy and deemed the campus “mask optional” for all fully vaccinated and boosted individuals outside of classroom spaces starting March 21 as COVID-19 cases continued to fall. They also relaxed the student guest policy, and began allowing fully vaccinated non-Emerson guests in residential spaces on Feb. 22.

“We’ve been making great progress thanks to everyone’s adherence to our policies and our protocols,” Muurisepp said. “We are having a really successful semester so far, all things considered where we were a month ago. Everything is pointing in the right direction, which makes it the right time to try to reduce some of our restrictions.”

Emerson students, faculty, and staff are still expected to test once a week, but if positive tests remain low, the college may consider a shift in policy later in the spring semester. Communal spaces will also be returned to their full pre-pandemic capacity.

Emerson’s loosened mask policy follows the state’s as Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker removed the mandate for fully vaccinated officials in indoor spaces unless they are part of an immunocompromised group. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, however, elected to keep the mandate in place, a decidedly rare split between the college and city.

“Throughout the Commonwealth, while there was never a mask mandate for the Commonwealth in recent times, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health has changed our guidance,” said Müürisepp in an interview with The Beacon. “But within the Boston area, the mask mandate is still in place for indoor spaces. So we felt that we want to have testing for the next few weeks and after spring break, we could, based on how everything’s been going, start loosening up on the masks and have more of a masks optional policy.”

The state continued a downward trend of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday after 938 positive cases were reported for Tuesday—a daily positivity rate of 2.35 percent. The

death toll rose to 133.

Hospitalizations also decreased as reported on Wednesday as the state reported 537, with 292 of these hospitalizations occurring in those who are fully vaccinated.

Massachusetts reported 11,009 new vaccinations—including boosters— from Tuesday to Wednesday, bringing the state’s total to 13,883,940 doses. Wednesday’s daily vaccination update reported that 5,278,536 Mass. residents— approximately 76 percent of the state’s population, according to Mass. Department of Health data—are fully vaccinated, meaning they have received both doses of the Moderna or Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Emerson’s email also announced the disbanding of the COVID-19 team over the course of the summer and the different academic departments will be allowed to consider their own COVID-19 protocols going forward.

“Those folks have given so much time and effort and energy and helped us be able to have in-person studying last year and a successful term this academic year, as well,” Müürisepp said. “But it’s also time to operationalize. We need to get departments thinking about what to do as a department of X, Y, or Z, and how they make that part of regular operations to not always be fully reliant on this COVID team.”

Müürisepp confirmed that the college “reserves the right” to reunite the COVID-19 team at any time in the future as the pandemic continues on.

“If we have to adjust our practices on masking, if we need to go back to being required across campus, if we need to increase testing frequency, all of those sorts of things, we certainly would always reserve the right to do that if we needed,” Müürisepp said.

The change in policy remains to be in place for the Boston campus exclusively. Müürisepp advises the Kasteel Well and Los Angeles campuses to continue to adhere to the COVID-19 policies put in place on their respective campuses.

“The state of the virus is very different in Los Angeles right now, as it is in the Netherlands and so Kasteel Well students and staff should listen to the guidance out there,” he said.

Recently, students at Kasteel Well reported a disorganized response to the COVID-19 cases on the satellite campus, including disoriented moving instructions for both infected and uninfected students and an overlap in the different isolation timelines, among other confusions.

“I work with them at the castle, but they have their own team that are working and Rob has been doing a phenomenal job of dealing with how they have handled the arrival of our students and the increased cases within the Netherlands but also certainly at the castle really well and maybe adjustments and necessary changes that they need to do,” Müürisepp said. “Certainly everything’s up to them at the end of the day.”

As spring break arrives next week, Müürisepp advised students to remain vigilant in their protection from the virus, as the goal is to not have to alter these policies, he said.

“We still need to make sure we’re taking proper precautions, so folks are traveling, masking, avoiding areas and situations that might become risky for the virus, and then also the really important part of making sure they’re testing before arriving back to campus through a rapid test,” said Müürisepp.

adrianna_pray@emerson.edu

Opinion

The Berkeley Beacon

February 24, 2022

4

The Ukraine crisis isn’t complicated— unless you’re imperialist Camilo Fonseca Beacon Staff

For weeks, college students have felt the distant-but-steady drumbeat of war, on the brink of what could be the bloodiest conflict since the 1940s. Yet, on our campus, the crisis has elicited little sense of alarm—and worryingly few voices of condemnation.

On one hand, it might be unreasonable to expect art students to pay close attention to international affairs. Not everyone can be well versed in the long history of eastern European geopolitics, nor should everyone pretend to be. But you don’t need a Ph.D. to see Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for what it is.

I hear college students, like any good college students, question whether we can believe what we’re told. It can’t be the whole story, can it? What if the narrative of Russian aggression is just sensationalism— or worse, a fiction intentionally shaped by the media? What if Russia has a point—aren’t they threatened by Western encroachment into eastern Europe? And the elephant in the room—isn’t it hypocritical to criticize Russia, when the United States has done so many things on its own?

For all the shades of gray in geopolitics—and they exist in spades—

I’ve heard Emerson students, like any good college students, question whether we can believe what we’re told. It can’t be the whole story, can it?

the crisis in Ukraine is relatively black-and-white. Simply put, we are witnessing shameless bullying on the world stage, a transparent bid of a once-great power to restore its pretensions of glory. And it is disingenuous, at best, to suggest it is anything else.

The idea that Moscow is in any way conducting genuine “peacekeeping” by moving thousands of troops into Ukraine’s breakaway regions is laughable. The so-called Donbass republics are already Russian puppet states in all but name, propped up by a not-so-secret contingent of Russian special forces rather than having any popular legitimacy.

Russia’s invasion of the Donbass is not about protecting Russian-language speakers or supporting political dissidents. It is about sending a message to Ukraine, and to the West—“what’s ours is ours, and don’t even think about stepping foot in our sandbox.”

Russia has turned the clock back to the age of empires, and if that’s not bad enough, it has cast itself in the role of the vengeful hero.

With the word “imperialism” having more currency today than

Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (left). / Creative Commons ever before, it is difficult to grasp just how brazen Russia’s jockeying is. Moscow isn’t merely seeking to exert its influence over Kyiv; it is trying to restore the old order of things. Once upon a time, the Russian Empire (and then the Soviet Union) controlled not only Ukraine, but dozens of other countries and nationalities across eastern Europe and central Asia. Eventually, many would gain independence after the fall of the Soviet Union—something Russian President Vladimir Putin once called “the greatest geopolitical catastrophe” of the 20th century.

Therein lies the chip on Putin’s shoulder. His generation saw Russia reduced from a superpower spanning half the globe to a country fractured, economically impotent, and surrounded by its enemies.

The wave of democracy that swept Europe in the 1990s—that saw the independence of Ukraine and so many other nations—was built on, as Putin said on Monday, the “injustices, lies and outright pillage of Russia.”

Putin is not acting out of geopolitical necessity or pragmatism.

He seeks to restore the old Russian Empire, with Ukraine as its vassal and himself as its suzerain.

In the same speech on Monday, Putin said that Ukraine has “never had stable traditions of real statehood”—a canard eerily reminiscent of 19th century Europeans, justifying their imperial adventures on the pretext of bringing political stability. He added that Ukraine has opted for “mindlessly emulating foreign models”—i.e. those of the liberal, democratic West—”which have no relation to history or Ukrainian realities”—a reality, of course, that is determined by Russia.

None of this rhetoric is new. Russia has been actively undermining Ukrainian sovereignty for the past six years, when it unilaterally annexed Crimea and fostered separatist movements in the Donbass. Six years before that, Russia pulled the same trick on Georgia, by invading the country to prop up two Rus-

sian-backed separatist states (and committing ethnic cleansing of native Georgians in the process).

In this context, Ukraine is just an extension of Putin’s imperial project. And it seems like he is closer to succeeding than ever. On Wednesday evening, the Donbass republics formally requested Russian military intervention to “help beat back” Ukrainian forces in contested areas of the country. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he expected the invasion to begin

by Thursday morning.

Regardless of what happens in the next few weeks, the governments of the world—those that

Russi a h a s tur n e d t h e cl o ck ba ck to th e a ge of e m p i re s, a n d i f th a t’s n o t ba d e n o ugh , i t h a s ca st i tsel f i n th e rol e of th e ve nge fu l h e ro. believe in the rule of diplomacy and international law—are arrayed against Moscow. Of course, this list includes the U.S. and its NATO allies, but it also includes countries who have suffered, and continue to suffer, the effects of imperialism.

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from the embers of dead empires in a way that does not plunge us back into new forms of domination and oppression,” said Martin Kimani, Kenya’s ambassador to the United Nations., in a fiery rebuke of Putin’s aggression on Monday.

His audience in the Security Council would not have lost the undertone of his address—namely, that his country chafed under nearly a century of British colonial rule, and since then has been subjected to the the same “neo”-imperialistic machinations of foreign capitalism that have plagued other postcolonial African states. This context made Kimani’s argument all the more forceful. “[Kenya] rejected irredentism and expansionism on any basis [after gaining independence from Britain], including racial, ethnic, religious or cultural factors,” he said. “We reject it again today.”

Kimani is not the first to draw a line between Putin’s argument and classic imperialist rhetoric. He points out, though, that Russia’s “yearning of integration” with the Donbass is common to countries “formed from empires that have collapsed or retreated.”

Kimani also offers a voice from the margins of the Security Council, representing a small country with little vested interest in eastern European security other than its opposition to the empireto empire.

Thus he proclaims with authority his opposition to “the trend ... of powerful states, including members of this Security Council, breaching international law with little regard.”

He knows that every time the norms of international order are violated, the countries that end up paying the highest price are ones like his own.

Editor-in-Chief Lucia Thorne Managing Editors Shannon Garrido (Content) Camilo Fonseca (Content) Marcus Cocova (Multimedia) Campbell Parish (Operations) Section Editors Frankie Rowley (News) Hadera McKay (Opinion)

If all this isn’t enough to draw the reproach of Western youth, what is the line? Will we wait until Russian troops march into Kyiv to install a pro-Moscow government to say that maybe Putin was on the wrong side

If all t h is is n’t eno ugh to d raw t h e reproach of Western yo ut h , wh at is t h e line? all along?

We find it so easy to condemn imperialism when it’s cooked up in our own front yard. College students, for example, rallied against the invasion of Iraq when it became clear that our government was acting not on their behalf, but on behalf of oil giants and the military-industrial complex. Not only did they recognize the Bush administration’s cynical machinations, they felt their voices might have stopped the madness.

The imperialism perpetuated against Ukraine is different. It’s far away, and chances are, it won’t impact our lives too seriously. We can’t hold an anti-war rally and hope Putin will back down. It’s so much easier to look the other way, and it costs us nothing. But our detachment does not excuse our acquiescence. camilo_fonseca@emerson.edu Karissa Schaefer (Living Arts) Tyler Foy (Sports) Kaitlyn Fehr (Copy) Advisor David Dahl (617) 824–8687 berkeleybeacon.com contact@berkeleybeacon.com

The Berkeley Beacon

February 24, 2022

5

Border wall cements what we knew, Dominican Republic’s immigration policies are xenophobic Shannon Garrido Beacon Staff

As of this year, spike, metal, and concrete will occupy the Dominican-Haitian border, as a wall is currently being constructed where the countries meet. Elon Musk-enthusiast and President of the Dominican Republic Luis Abinader implemented this idiotic project that will alter the border that has existed for over four hundred years with a tumultuous and violent history, filled with colonizing empires and barbaric monarchies.

This Sunday, in an effort to “stop irregular rates of migration, and the smuggling of goods, weapons and drugs,” the Dominican government announced it is in the process of building a wall across the 392-kilometer (or about 243.6-mile) border.

This wall is set to be 20-centimeters (about 7.87 inches) of thick concrete topped by a metal mesh, and 12.8 ft high with fiber optics for communications, movement sensors, cameras, radars, and drones.

The cost of this project has yet to be made public, however, construction for the wall seems to be well on its way. Knowing the track record of the Dominican government and how much I doubt that a plan like this is even feasible or will come into fruition, this discussion is about what the wall represents. As the anniversary of Dominican independence from Haiti approaches, on Feb. 27, let’s think about what this border truly means in accordance with the historic discrimination of Haitian residents.

There are close to half a million undocumented Haitians living in the Dominican Republic, according to the Organization for International Migration (OIM). Being from one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, many Haitians cross the border in search of work, either in the agricultural industry or the construction industry.

There are more illegal Haitian kids in the DR now than adults. As many as 70 percent of the kids living on the streets of Santiago are Haitian.

Little boys shine shoes, clean cars, or sell snacks to buy themselves a meal, while many others are at the

mercy of exploitative employers.

Anyone who has lived in the Dominican Republic and possesses even a speck of common sense can understand that saying that they are treated as second-class citizens is putting it very lightly. On any given day, I drive around Santo Domingo and witness Haitian immigrants, children and adults alike, getting harassed and abused in crosswalks. Moreover, institutionalized discrimination against Haitians is nothing new for the country either.

Presidents like Joaquin Balaguer and Leonel Fernandez performed mass deportations of Haitians during their time in office. Fascist dictator, Rafael Trujillo – who was obsessed with “whitening” the island – ordered the massacre of Haitians in border areas. The number of people murdered by the massacre is estimated to range from 10,000 to 25,000 over the course of only a few weeks.

While it has to be one of the bloodiest and cruelest moments in our history, it is still one that is constantly skimmed over during history class.

In 2013, the Dominican government ruled to revoke the citizenship of children of illegal Haitian migrant workers, a measure applied to anyone born after 1929. This meant that migrants’ children, grandchildren, and in some cases, even great-grandchildren would have their citizenship revoked and access to services such as schools or healthcare repressed.

This Black History Month, the Dominican president has decided to add to that atrocious list of events and build a wall of bigotry on the border of the first ever Black republic. It would be one thing to believe that the Dominican government was acting on their own accord, but it’s another to be from the country and witness first hand the rhetoric used to demean Haitians as a whole.

I don’t know how many times I have heard Dominicans replace the word “Black” with “Haitian” and use it as a means to put people that present in such a way in a place of inferiority. So much of the Dominican Republic’s relationship with Haiti is blatant racism. The earliest roots of this “antihaitianismo” — anti-Haitian discrimination— go back a long way.

After gaining independence, many

Illustration Lucia Thorne Dominican nationalists spread the word that in order to proceed as a sovereign country they needed to “emphasize their racial and cultural distance from Haiti,” according to Human Rights Watch. Which included efforts to “improve’’ their country by encouraging white immigrants to come in and make a living while simultaneously imposing strict controls on nonwhite migrants, which they have maintained ever since. So, with all this racist education being spoonfed to every new generation, how are there over 500,000 undocumented Haitians currently living in the Dominican Republic?

The DR has been utilizing Haitian bodies for their labor for decades, and there are many accounts of exploitative and abusive treatment from Dominican employers. The average Haitian is nearly 10 times poorer than the average Dominican, and much more likely to be unemployed. Yet the DR still uses immigrant labor to cut its sugar, build its infrastructure, and staff its tourism destinations.

According to the Atlantic, these restrictive immigration policies benefit only those who utilize cheap labor because it provides them with a freer hand. With no protection from workplace regulations and the fear of being deported or replaced whenever it’s convenient for em-

ployers (including right before payday), Haitian workers live in a constant state of abuse for a check. A check that in most cases can be the difference between life and death.

We use Haitian immigrants for their labor, and exploit them for as little as nothing, yet complain when those same immigrants’ children come to our windows asking for spare change.

It makes absolutely no sense. Dominicans are obsessed with separating themselves from the same people they share an island with, their second-largest trading partner, and the reason we can uphold this increasingly unsustainable tourist economy.

President Abinader announced on Sunday that, “The severe institutional and security crisis that [Haiti] is going through has brought its people to a worrying situation of social and political instability,” referring to the crisis triggered by the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise on Jul. 7. This crisis “must be overcome by the Haitians themselves,” he added.

What an insightful thing to hear. It’s almost as if we have heard this kind of rhetoric before. All Haiti has to do is pick itself up by its bootstraps and the country will repair itself, right?

It’s not like there is a long history of imperial powers draining the country economically, politically, and environmentally.

Haiti has been put in a headlock by

‘Poor core’ is only an aesthetic for those who have the choice Vivi Smilgius Beacon Staff

There’s a confusing and irritating dichotomy when a student wearing tattered clothing and corded earbuds pulls a $2,000 laptop and a $500 pair of studio headphones out of their Louis Vuitton backpack.

Chances are, during this class, the student will raise their hand to talk about the privilege they come from and how it’s changed their worldview. They’ll tell everyone in the class that they’re aware of said privilege and assure them it didn’t affect them the way it did everyone else.

All of a sudden, it’s clear that tattered clothing and corded earbuds are a fashion choice, not a display of well-worn or wellloved clothing.

‘Poor core,’ also called ‘home-

less chic,’ became popular in the 1980s and, like most trends, comes back into style every 20-orso years. (The most recent and notable example is Christian Dior’s spring 2000 collection, which combined mismatched patterns and textures, rips and frills, and muted tones in an abomination of faux-dirty couture.) One of fashion’s most controversial trends, the style involves high-end adaptations of worn-out clothing— a chic adaptation of difficult and traumatic circumstances.

In an analysis of homeless chic, journalist Leeann Duggan connected the style to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, which ranks human needs from physiological needs to self-actualization.

“Homeless people, totally without a safety net, are living at the very bottom of that pyramid.

People who live at the very top, in the heady realm of ‘self-actualization,’ can only see the home-

less through their own extremely privileged lens. It’s a phenomenon akin to cultural appropriation,” wrote Duggan in a Refinery29 article on the topic.

The lens of privilege that Duggan refers to is one familiar to many Emerson students. It’s no secret that, at a school where the cost of attendance is nearly $80,000 and steadily increasing, most of the student body resides well above the poverty line.

That’s not to say that those who have wealth are obligated to present it. Shopping at thrift stores or wearing second-hand clothing can be an environmentally sustainable and financially feasible option, especially for college students.

It can also be a way to develop a unique style and keep up with trends in a world where they’re moving faster than ever. But the line is crossed when people in positions of privilege or wealth actively present themselves as the

every single one of their geopolitical neighbors, but they have also been at the end of horrifying natural disasters. The 2010 earthquake devastated the country’s infrastructure and agriculture while leaving an estimated 316,000 people dead. On Aug. 14, 2021, a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the island again, leaving more than 2,200 dead, over 12,000 injured, and 800,000 people, including 340,000 children affected or displaced.

Environmentally, the country has suffered tremendously. Due to extreme poverty, natural disasters such as the 2010 earthquake, and unstable political management, much of their biodiversity has depleted.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Haiti’s dependency on charcoal and firewood in conjunction with their lack of access to clean, affordable energy options is a critical threat to their air quality. It’s also what leads to deforestation and the production of greenhouse gasses. The widespread deforestation has led to flooding, dramatic rates of soil erosion, and declines in agricultural productivity.

What I’m trying to say is that Haiti has not had it easy. It’s truly the part of the island that has had to endure the most, and Dominicans have resorted to violent xenophobic policies and treatments to justify their exploitative measures. The Dominican government continues to push the narrative that they are ‘invading our space’ and bringing ‘crime and drugs.’ Yet, few to no public officials seem to put forth programs or measures to improve and validate their status in the country.

Keeping Haitians at an extreme disadvantage benefits all the wrong people, but it doesn’t benefit the majority of Dominicans. It’s not in most of our best interest to allow for this violent cycle to persist. If you cannot find it in you to care about the countless kids, parents, and friends who have to endure the hardship that is being an undocumented Haitian in the DR, then at least try to understand that building a wall has never been to protect you, but to continue to oppress others. shannon_garrido@emerson.edu

Courtesy Vivi Smilgius opposite purely for aesthetics.

Emerson students are known for being extremely stylish, constantly thinking outside the box, and expressing themselves through unique clothes, makeup, and hairstyles. So, when does a stylistic choice cross the line into appropriation?

The answer: inspiration and intent. There’s nothing wrong with oversized clothes, multi-layered outfits, blends of textures, or muted colors. But if the inspiration comes from someone who has no say whatsoever in the clothes they wear (or own), the outfit has moved from fashionable to fallacious. The same goes for wearers

who seek to fit a ‘poorer’ aesthetic for the purpose of fitting in with others or posing as average, which is ridiculous.

Poverty is not an aesthetic, nor is it a circumstance to be mimicked and adapted. Glamourizing ill-fitting or dirty-looking clothing to fit a stylistic agenda reeks of privilege and ignorance. Do not mistake a critique of appropriated ‘poor core’ for a slam on creativity— after all, one is commendable and the other is not.

vivi_smilgius@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

February 24, 2022

6

Living Arts

My Green Bananas to play The Tourist Trap Hannah Nguyen

said the shows allowed the band to gain more recognition and positive feedback.

The group also said their friends’ positive energy and presence during performances have also given them more

Beacon Staff

What started as a group of five friends “jamming in their dorms” has turned into a local band set to play its first outside gig at the Tourist Trap Saturday, Feb. 26.

My Green Bananas is an Emerson band of first-years who performed at Index Magazine’s and Five Cent Sound’s launch parties last semester. Their performances gained traction on YouTube, which led to an offer to perform a live show on Feb. 26 at The Tourist Trap in Allston.

“Veronica from Rosewater Records reached out to us and asked us to play and sent us some demos, so she could fit us into a lineup that would work for us,” co-singer and co-writer Kayla Hardy said.

Attendees can expect a new song, as well as songs previously performed by the band, totaling up to five original songs. Other performers include Paper Lady, Babehoven, and Divine Sweater.

My Green Bananas is made up of co-singers and songwriters Belle Fortebuono and Kayla Hardy, guitarist David Staats, bassist Taryn Noonan, and drummer Kaveh Hodjat.

Staats, Fortebuono, and Hardy bonded over music when they met at the start of the fall semester this year. One night, they booked a rehearsal room, wrote songs that “would never see the light of day,” and eventually came up with the idea to start their own band. They began looking for people to play bass and drums and reached out to Noonan and Hodjat.

The name My Green Bananas was

Photo of first-year band My Green Bananas band. / Courtesy My Green Bananas inspired by a funny interaction between Staats and Noonan.

“I had just come back [to my dorm] from the dining hall carrying three bananas. David was like, ‘Why do you have green bananas?’ And then I was just like, ‘they’re mine.’ And then I was like, ‘Oh my God, my green bananas,’” Noonan said.

Fortebuono, Hardy, and Hodjat have already released their own music as solo artists prior to starting My Green Bananas. They each have their own individual sounds and aesthetics, but as a band,

they work towards a collective vision.

“Adding in Taryn and David and Kaveh and having other people working on a project really livens the music,” Hardy said. “With everyone together, it makes it completely different.”

Staats echoed Hardy’s feelings.

“You’re bringing little different pieces of the same puzzle together,” Staats said. “It’s great because it’s like a bunch of different sounds mashed together.”

The band has not officially released music yet because instruments and recording equipment are not easily acces-

Berklee honors important Black artists Thursday at their Legacy Award Concert Karissa Schaefer Beacon Staff

Berklee College of Music continues to commemorate African American artistic legacies this month by hosting the Berklee Legacy Award Concert Thursday Feb. 25 at 8 p.m., with special performances, featuring Grammy-nominated jazz artists Jazzmeia Horn and Tia Fuller.

Hosted at the Berklee Performance Center, the tribute concert will present the Legacy Award to commemorate the inaugural awardees: jazz musicians Duke Ellington and Sarah Vaughan, concert violinist Joseph Douglass, and dancer-choreographer Carmen de Lavallade. The award aims to acknowledge and celebrate Black performing artists and figures who have completed a Berklee doctorate or devoted their time to the Berklee community.

In 2021, the college renamed four spaces on campus by honoring trailblazers in music and dance—the dining hall named after Ellington, a practice classroom after Vaughan, the entryway of Boston Conservatory named for Douglass, and the Conservatory’s dance rehearsal room crediting de Lavallade.

Vocalist Horn will collaborate with saxophonist and composer Fuller—who is also part of Berklee’s faculty—on a live performance in honor of Vaughan and Ellington. With Fuller directing a big band to complement Horn’s lyrics, Horn is eager to finally see the finished group product.

Tia Fuller on saxophone. Photo by Dave Green.

“The collective artistry between Tia Fuller and I, her putting together the arrangements for the big band, and then some of the arrangements I put together myself; I’m really looking forward to seeing how that plays out,” Horn said.

“It’s gonna be great.”

Tia Fuller is the Artistic Director of Berklee’s Ensemble Department, where she directs three ensembles and leads an outreach city music high school program, preparing middle and high schoolers for life as a Berklee student.

She described her role as one of intersectionality, bringing students together with her ability to put together an A-list tour show that conjoins musicians, dancers, and stage crews alike.

“One of [my classes] is a Beyonce Homecoming ensemble where we do a show based on an artist and it’s all en-

compassing,” Fuller said. “That’s one of the areas where I’m able to teach and bring my expertise of being on the road to Berklee. Another thing I do is a program that offers classes, after school classes, and ensembles so they can actually get an introduction to Berklee, and also get the tools they need to play and be a musician.”

As a musician, composer, and new CEO of her own record label Empress Legacy Records, Horn won the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition and the 2015 Thelonious Monk Institute International Jazz Competition. The seasoned performer has been singing since they were three years old, releasing her first album A Social Call in 2017, second album Love and Liberation in 2019, and third Dear Love in 2021.

sible at Emerson, but Fortebuono and Hardy have been consistently writing music together.

“Our goal right now is just to play as many live shows as we can and try and just gain traction that way and then when we find the resources to record something that we are really proud of then we will have music out as soon as we can,” Hardy said.

Having performed for Index Magazine’s FW 21 Issue Launch Party last November and Five Cent Sound’s Fall 2021 Launch Party, My Green Bananas Since her home life was full of gospel and R&B music, she wanted to go on her own path in her career.

“When I heard jazz, the first vocalist I heard was Sarah Vaughan,” Horn said.

“Her range, her timbre, her technique, her quality, the way that she utilized her voice as an instrument, it really inspired me to be the singer I am today.”

With a name fitting for her profession, Horn loves getting to express herself through improvisation, something personal to every musician’s individuality. She said she is actively working towards releasing music that affects people in a positive way and motivates them to utilize their voice in the world.

“I’ve been working so hard to be a part of the jazz world, so I haven’t really had the opportunity to think about where I fit in,” Horn said. “But what I aspire to do is to inspire people, specifically women, to really strive from within themselves. There’s a lot of adversity that we’re facing in our society today.”

Fuller’s favorite element of jazz is the freedom musicians get to explore ideas and structures on a song. She also appreciates the spiritual connection of communicating with her performers as leader of the Legacy Big Band, which is made of 15 undergraduate students who have devoted their semester to learning the music of Ellington and Vaughan specifically for the concert.

The young artists have been fleshing out their pieces in constant rehearsals, Fuller describing Monday’s as “transformational,” with excitedness oozing from the students and herself.

“There are going to be arrangements that a couple of students did in the band, which is really special,” Fuller said. “On top of that, there’s so much talent. I have an extraordinary vocalist who is also singing. One of the trombone players, he’s a great rapper, so we’re putting an arrangement of Terry Lyne Carrington’s and he’s going to be rapping for that, as well as another part of the show.”

In an interview with The Beacon,

“People would reach out to us, and we were like, ‘alright,we gotta keep going,” -David Staats attention.

“I think part of the reason that people have been very responsive to the band so far is that our friends are super supportive and almost like an extension of the band in and of itself,” Hardy said. “They just bring the best energy to the crowd, and I think they really get people excited because they’re excited to see us.” hannah_nguyen@emerson.edu Fuller thanked overlooker for the Performance Division Provost Dean Savage and Ensemble Department Chair Sean Skeete for asking to collaborate with her to create the concert. She’s awaiting the final show and is being optimistic in how it will amplify Black history and voices.

“For me, [the concert’s] been about intersection points and bringing together different ideas and different departments for cross collaboration to celebrate Black History Month,” Fuller said.

All things lead back to the past, and the Legacy Award connects multiple generations to have conversations about significant historical issues that prevail today. With this, Horn yearns for people to address these matters in a communal space that is looking to change for their future.

“I hope this award brings awareness to the culture of Black American music and what it has helped establish in this country that we call America,” Horn said. “I hope many people can gain a history lesson from some of these pioneers who have really dedicated their lives towards music, to building the jazz legacy we have today.”

The award is especially significant to Fuller who is honoring those who have been innovators for many aspects of society that are still present today. Though Ellington and Vaughan are her people of focus for this dedicated performance, she hopes people will be touched by various Black historical figures.

“To me, the Berklee Legacy Award is celebrating those African American masters who have not only been proficient in what they do, but have really made a mark on culture based on what they do,” Fuller said. “They are masters of this music, but they’ve also been extremely impactful on a cultural and political level in America.” karissa_schaefer@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

February 24, 2022

7

Kandyce Whittingham from Emerson Stage’s 2022 ‘As You Like It’ production. / Courtesy Craig Bailey

EmStage’s ‘As You Like It’ will certainly have you liking it Karissa Schaefer Beacon Staff

Vibrancy, love, and community—these are just some of the words to describe Emerson Stage’s production of “As You Like It.” Director Eddie DeHais has transformed the classic Shakespeare comedy play to fit modern themes of queer love, along with staging director Annie Levy. The play revolves around “queer, love, joy, and acceptance,” as described on its website, and it follows main characters Orlando, Rosalind, and Cedric as they run away from home to the Forest of Arden to find who they truly are.

The play was performed in the Semel Theater this past weekend, and it was with a completely reconstructed stage catered to the various scene settings. Upon entry, it was night and day between the normal Semel floor and what was set up: a mock wooden floor with a few lights coming from underneath.

The craftsmanship of the stage design was something to be admired, between the creative holes in the ground where flowers sprung up, the eye-catching colorful lighting, and the fun red tree propped in the center, there’s something new to catch the audience’s eye with every scene.

The sound design was also memorable, most notably the occasional sheep noises that came with every Audrey—played by senior Angela Valentino—scene

carrying the balloons mimicking sheep. Additionally, whenever junior Dom Letterii’s character LeBeau or sophomore Loey Jones-Perpich–– as Duke Frederick slammed their stick onto the ground––the exaggerated sound effect that came with it was consistently laughable.

Set as a period Shakespearean piece set in 16th century England, the costumes reflect the appearance of the Elizabethan era (huge shoutout to costume designer junior Trixie Ward). Tailored for their specific characters, they represent their distinguishing features from upper and lower class, as it did during those times.

More formal wear was worn by the family and confines ruled by Duke Federick, whereas the forest allowed characters like the main three to be more free and true to themselves. The detailing was exquisite, from each character having their own color in outfit, all the way down to the hairpieces and sparkling makeup that could be spotted from any angle. Even the court jester Touchstone’s outfit of various patterns and clothing items seemed well put together.

Speaking of the jester, who is played by senior Olivia Wolff, they are thoroughly entertaining— quite obviously being the constant comedic relief. Wolff plays a very animated role, through facial expressions and body language.

Every scene of her’s was filled with enthusiasm. Particularly, the throuple storyline between her, Audrey, and Amiens—played by

junior Gracie Martin—was something unexpected, yet fully welcomed and embraced, creating for some hilarious moments.

In fact, the performances by everyone in the cast blew the audience away, receiving a standing ovation after bows. Rosalind, played by junior Kandyce Whittingham, and Cedric, played by senior Ryan Baker, had insane chemistry and were equally as funny as Touchstone. Whittingham made all their movements big enough for every single member of the audience to make out their face, supplemented with arm and leg motions throughout. They were lively and had such stage presence that really brought the audience into the scene with them.

One hilarious bit was the frequently emphasized, almost sexual, noises during conversational scenes between Rosalind and Cedric. Both actors put their heart and soul into their performances, but these moments in particular really stole the show. Cedric’s first scene had him dancing to Todrick Hall’s “Nails, Hair, Hips, Heels,” immediately followed by him wearing a birthday hat and comically singing “Happy Birthday” on a kazoo—certainly an entrance to remember.

The music in general really adds to the whole production. It was intense and energized during transitions, and while the combat scene happened in a fake boxing “ring” created by stage lights, it almost had a sci-fi flare to it—side note, Letterii initializing the fight using

their stick was so good and so on point. The beginning had a darkly lit stage, with everyone silent, walking intensely in formations to fierce music—this paired with the first glimpse of the costumes made for a powerful show starter.

As the scene design transitioned to that of the Forest of Arden, the characters and setting became full of life. This is when some new people are introduced, notable mentions to juniors Alieyah Brown, who played Duke Senior, and Zach Fuller, who played Jaques.

Brown made occasional appearances before her character was properly introduced, for example, beautifully humming and singing a song in between scenes. Fuller embodied the melancholic and poetic character of his, having some very strong monologues delivered perfectly.

One of the best scenes happens when Touchstone frantically practices how to talk romantically to Audrey, acting out both parts of the conversation. Not getting very far, Jacques is on the other side of the stage, getting the fool’s attention. In response, Touchstone screams and lands on the ground.

The jittery and amusing Wolff

Arden, in hopes of starting fresh while longing for Rosalind after meeting her at the wrestling event.

He hangs up strips of notes on the iconic red tree, expressing his love for Rosalind in a million different ways. Cedric and Rosalind decide to do a gender swap in their new life: Cedric now going by Aliena dawning a stunning layered light pink dress, and Rosalind, now referred to as Ganymede, stunting in a dazzling gold suit (which was a vague reminder of the “Drake and Josh” gold Premiere vest).

After finding the notes, Rosalind, who is as deeply infatuated with Orlando as he is with her, makes him recite the meaningful messages to her as if he is practicing what to say, fully believing he’s speaking to Ganymede. This Shakespeare adaptation places deep meaning in each word, which clearly translates to Rosalind’s admiration for Orlando’s words, and Orlando’s learning of words from Jacques.

It’s not until the last part of the play where everyone is gathered for a unified wedding scene when Cedric and Rosalind finally reveal their true selves. The other characters’ reactions are so anticlimactic in the way that it makes for

Olivia Wolff, Ryan Baker, and Kandyce Whittingham from Emerson Stage’s 2022 ‘As You Like It’ production. / Courtesy Craig Bailey received a special, and well deserved, applause from the audience after.

There were some times when the cast used instruments and dance, and although it’s not a musical, there’s the periodic singing as well.

At one point, Martin was dressed head to toe in yellow playing the guitar and singing while sitting on a stool next to Fuller. In return, he sings in a purposely bad and shaky voice, another applause worthy moment. Every cast member thoroughly shows how talented they are.

A big part of the plot had Orlando going off into the Forest of

a laugh worthy bit—they respond by pointing and sighing an exaggerated “Oh” while smiling, nonchalant but effective.

Even though the play had a convoluted storyline, the actors made the play what it was and enjoyable to watch. Despite the complicated Shakespeare of it all—seriously, big props to anyone who can pull off acting in a Shakespearean piece—and never seeing or knowing about the original “As You Like It” show, Emerson Stage’s production didn’t disappoint one bit, providing a unique and worthwhile experience. karissa_schaefer@emerson.edu

College to screen senior journalism major’s documentary Cont. from Pg. 1

type of project we were hoping to spotlight for a wider audience,” Popa said.

Fu decided the focus of her class assignment would be Boston’s Chinatown because of how little engagement Emerson students have with the neighborhood beyond visiting the local businesses. “​​A t least in Emerson, we always see it as a site, like an amusement park or theme park or a place that students go get boba tea,” said Fu. The 16-minute documentary, which can be viewed on YouTube, features interviews with five different artists, including the painter Wen-ti Tsen and Emerson

alumnus Alison Yueming Qu. The artists discuss living in Boston’s Chinatown and creating work that represents the experiences of Asian immigrants, something that outsiders may not have much exposure to.

“Chinatown is not just a place that’s full of restaurants,” said Fu. “It’s a place of generations of effort, of immigrants from all over Asia trying to find their lives in America.”

The documentary interweaves artist interviews, archival footage, and historical research. Many moments in the documentary allow the artists to speak about their identity in relation to history and the inaccurate representations of Asian Americans in pop culture.

Like many Emerson students, Fu considers herself an outsider

to this community. She grew up in Fujian, China and never lived in the U.S. before enrolling at Emerson. The Asian American experience, including having the common identity crisis, is one she has come to know, she said.

“I learned a lot about the bigger picture immigration history in the U.S. in general,” said Fu. “That has led to many issues that people are trying to address in Chinatown nowadays.”

Fu’s awareness of Chinatown’s arts programming began in Summer 2021 when she returned to Boston for the first time since Spring 2020. When the pandemic hit, she went back home that spring and ended up taking online classes through the 2020-2021 academic year.

Fu said the social movements

during the pandemic, like Black Lives Matter and Stop Asian Hate, led to increased attention on marginalized communities. These movements she noticed, highlighted Chinatown more on social media, and the effects of this push were visible when she landed in Boston last summer.

“There are more younger people who [have] jumped into this discourse of advocacy,” said Fu. Popa expressed that she wants students to learn about this neighboring community from viewing the documentary.

“We hope that those that attend the screening will feel a stronger connection to our neighborhood in Chinatown, and to the artists that work in the community,” Popa said.

When considering the impact

of her documentary, Fu said she hopes students will walk away with a different perspective on Chinatown.

“The bare minimum that I’m hoping [is] that they can have a curiosity about Chinatown,” Fu said. “Because the documentary is really just 16 minutes, and it’s really not a very comprehensive picture of the history of Boston Chinatown.”

She emphasized how Emerson students fail to appreciate Chinatown as a community and neighborhood beyond its attractions.

“We live right next to Chinatown and we kind of depend on it for our daily lives, for our grocery shopping,” Fu said. “We take advantage of it.” abigail_lee@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

Sports

Lions fall to Babson, take early playoff exit Cont. from Pg. 1 against Emerson at home. With the odds stacked against them, Emerson headed into the match looking to minimize the damage from Babson’s junior guard Megan Bauman— a goal Gould said they succeeded in achieving.

“We knew [Bauman] was their go-to kid and was the kid that killed us in the first game,” he said.

“At least make it tough. We knew we weren’t going to shut her down.

She’s a very good player. But we could make it tougher and I think we accomplished both goals.”

The Lions entered the game with three injured players on the bench, which Gould said made a major impact on the team dynamic.

“For all second semester we didn’t have to have Devin [Hill] we didn’t have Annika Herbert and then even in today’s game, we didn’t have Carla Pelino,” he said.

“That’s three kids that were impact players for us.”

The game opened with the Beavers scoring the first points on a mid-range jumper which was answered by a layup from senior forward Katie Beckmann. A trip to the free-throw line gave Babson the lead, which the Lions retrieved after a layup from sophomore guard Olivia Deslauriers. After back and forth play continued, a three-pointer from Deslauriers knotted the game at nine.

Babson fought to get back on top following two consecutive baskets, but a three from sophomore guard Ava Salti brought the Lions

Emerson’s women’s basketball team struggled against Babson on Wednesday, losing 73-49 Beacon Archives. within one. A bounce pass from junior center Chloe Allen—who was in double coverage—would find an open first-year Mackenzie Bruno who sank a mid-range jumper at the buzzer to put Emerson in the lead 16-15 through the first quarter.

The Beavers opened the second quarter with two trips to the free-throw line followed by two layups resulting in a score of 2116. Gibbons closed the gap with a three-pointer but Babson scored another jump shot to mitigate the damage. Babson started gaining momentum and separating them-

selves from the Lions. The captains for the Lions, Beckmann and Gibbons, scored a combined nine points in the quarter but Babson got the best of the Lions, entering halftime up 39-27.

Babson scored the first points of the second half on a layup, but Gibbons sank two threes to make the score 41-33—separated by two minutes of play. Babson scored two points before Gibbons sank her third three of the quarter, forcing Babson to call a timeout. Unfortunately, Gibbons was left with all the work for the Lions and couldn’t stop the Beavers from continuing

their dominance—leading by 5636 with a ten-minute quarter left to play.

The game, which was already slipping away from Emerson, would be expanded upon in the fourth quarter. The Beavers completed their sweep and scored to open the quarter. Beckmann scored a layup to end almost an eight-minute scoring drought for Emerson, while Babson scored throughout the period, extending their lead.

Sophomore guard Quinn O’Connor scored the last points for the Lions with a layup and free throw, but it wouldn’t be enough.

February 24, 2022

8

The Dam held and when the buzzer sounded in the Staake Gymnasium, Babson won 73-49.

It marked the end of Emerson’s women’s basketball team’s 202122 season.

Gibbons led the game with 21 points, which Gould said was a testament to her development as a player in recent seasons.

“You can’t manufacture that. It’s not a drill that you can do in practice,” said Gould. “I think even though it was the last game, the fact that she did that showed the growth that she had throughout the season in incremental steps along the way.”

Gould said Beckmann carried the team on the defensive end and was forced to play a difficult role but was successful.

“We put her in a tough spot where we basically said ‘look, you’re going to guard everybody,’” he said.

“It doesn’t show up in a stat sheet that somebody was able to stop a kid driving because Katie was there helping. That’s something that I thought she just did and I think she did it really well.”

With just two players graduating, the majority of the team will return to the court for another run at the NEWMAC crown. Gould said he expects the team to continue to develop with more practices and step up in every facet of the game.

“We took baby steps defensively, but we need to get better,” he said.

“We need to get better defensively and then we need to build on that.

Then offensively they need to get in the gym and practice and get more consistent with their scoring. That’s something that they’re going to do because now they know that what they’ve had to do it’s really difficult.”

tyler_foy@emerson.edu

Men’s lacrosse opens season with win over Nichols Jason Tulchin Beacon Staff

The Emerson men’s lacrosse team started its 2022 season with a 15-9 win against Nichols College this Saturday, Feb. 19.

The game marks the Lions’ first home game in almost two years.

Rotch Field hadn’t seen an Emerson game since February 2020. The team only played two away games last year, though head coach Matt Colombini said the home game was a much-needed change of pace from the long road trips to away games.

“It was nice just to be able to command the locker room and not have to get on a bus,” Colombini said. “You know where everything is and that everything was set up and what the routine was.”

Colombini said “managing the energy” of the team’s first home game in over two years was something the team talked about for many athletes, this was the first time since 2020 that their parents could watch them play.

For some, it was the first time in their college career.

The first 10 minutes of the game was a tight game that largely favored Emerson with graduate attacker Austin Franklin scoring 3 of the 6 goals for Emerson with assists from junior and sophomore attackers Nicholas Fulgione and Birk Swan, who also recorded goals for the Lions. The early 2-0 lead established by Swan and

Franklin wasn’t broken by Nichols until 6:33 left in the quarter, which ended 6-3 Lions.

The Bisons kept pace with the Lions in the second quarter, both teams netting four goals. The gap between the teams narrowed to one after Nichols scored the first two goals. Swan pushed the lead up to 2 with another tally 11 minutes in, though the Bisons kept pace with another goal less than a minute later. Three more Emerson goals and two from Nichols put the game at 10-7 Lions going into the second half.

The third frame was an aggressive push for Emerson— Franklin, Fulgione, and junior midfielder Jack O’Rourke tallied three goals, increasing the team’s lead to 13-7. Bisons’ sophomore Colby Gillis finally put Nichols on the board for the third quarter two minutes in, though a goal from first-year midfielder Skyler Celotto cemented Emerson’s lead in the third frame. The game moved into the final 15 minutes (up/down) 14-8.

The majority of the final quarter was a scoring desert for both teams, with Nichols’ offense falling short on account of junior goalie Malcolm McGrath, who blocked five shots in the quarter, two less than 30 seconds apart. Nichols was deep into the fourth with three minutes remaining when they tallied a man-up goal. The final goal of the day was scored by Emerson’s first-year attacker Hunter Gervais with 2:17 left in the game. In the

Men’s lacrosse team started their season off with a win against Nichols College. / Beacon Archives final 2 minutes, Nichols won a faceoff and took the final shot, which was blocked by McGrath. The game ended 15-9, with the Lions victorious.

Franklin led the Lions’ scoring with four goals while O’Rourke was close behind with three. Swan and Fulgione brought two goals and two assists each. Leading the defense was McGrath, with only nine goals allowed on 24 shots with 15 saves in the game.

Senior defensemen Lex Torrington kept the offense fed with four turnovers.

Colombini said every Lion on the field, both new and old, stood out.

“Austin’s gone through it a lot before, Skyler’s done it before, Malcolm has started a ton of games for us and played really well,” he said. “He ex-

pected them to play great. I thought Lex Torrington did an excellent job on [Nichols’] number one offensive player, playing defense for us. Jack O’Rourke hasn’t had a ton of experience because of COVID. And he played a great game. And Nick [Fulgione], playing attack and midfield force.”

Colombini emphasized that, despite the lack of experience due to COVID, many of the less experienced players performed well.

“Those guys [Torrington, Fulgione, O’Rourke] don’t have a ton of real game reps under their belts yet,” he said. “I think combined, they had over 10 points, the three.”

Before Emerson’s next game against Wentworth Institute of Technology, which he believed would be

a challenging opponent, Colombini wanted to work on the team’s consistency.

“I thought we hit a little bit of a low,” Colombini said. “We stayed the course and made sure that even when things are going well, we still focused on what we’re doing so we can stay nice and sharp.”

The Lions proved they could stay sharp, defeating Wentworth 13-10 this Wednesday and bumping their season record to 2-0.

Emerson will play again Saturday, Feb. 26 against Saint Joseph’s College of Maine at Rotch Field.

jason_tulchin@emerson.edu