Interim president interview

Emerson College’s student newspaper since 1947 • berkeleybeacon.com

Thursday, October 7, 2021 • Volume 75, Issue 6

@berkeleybeacon // @beaconupdate

Interim president seeks to project ‘confidence, continuity, stablity’

Charlie McKenna Beacon Staff

More than four months into his tenure in the college’s top job, Interim President Bill Gilligan described himself as a steady hand who will guide Emerson through a period of immense transition.

Gilligan, a former faculty member and vice president who retired at the end of 2020, took over the presidency on June 1.

Initially, the college intended to find a fulltime replacement for departing President M. Lee Pelton, but with the presidential search needing additional time, Gilligan was asked to fill the position in May. Gilligan said he had been “enjoying being retired” when he received a voicemail from Board of Trustees Chair Eric Alexander ‘78 congratulating him on achieving professor emeritus status at the college. When he returned Alexander’s call, the ask came.

“He said, ‘We want you to come back to be an interim president,’” Gilligan said. “‘I don’t know for how long, but it may be for a short period of time.’”

“So after I picked myself up off the floor, I thought about it,” he continued. “[I] talked to him, talked to my wife, called him back, and said I would do it.”

Gilligan said the presidency puts a “capstone” on his 36-year tenure at the college, where he started as a computer professor and rose through the ranks to become a vice president.

“It was humbling, and it was a great honor to be asked,” he said. “When you spend most of your career in the same place, with a different progression of jobs … every time you try something different, you learn something new.”

Because of this attitude, Gilligan felt he was being offered an opportunity that he “couldn’t say no to.”

“I wanted to learn more, and I wanted to say yes to the honor,” he said.

Gilligan has taken up the position as students return to in-person learning despite the ever-present threat of the pandemic. As vice president for information technology, Gilligan said he was not very involved in plotting the college’s reopening on the academic side—something he made an effort to catch up on when assuming the presidency.

“I’m really proud of the way that Emerson responded [to the pandemic]—and when I say Emerson, I mean everybody,” he said. “Having taken great pride in that [reopening process] but not having been a core component of it, … I considered that to be a very important responsibility for me to get up to speed on, so that I could be part of the continuing, solid effort to respond to COVID as everything unfolded.”

President, Pg. 2

Camilo Fonseca / Beacon Staff

Controversial organization suspended after outcry Luna Theus, Marcus Cocova, & Keshav Vinod Beacon Staff & Beacon Correspondent

The Emerson chapter of Turning Point USA was suspended by the college after the conservative organization passed out controversial stickers that many students saw as propagating harmful anti-Chinese stereotypes, but they argued were political criticism.

The stickers, which were used as a promotion at a tabling event in the 2 Boylston Place alley on Sept. 29, featured a character from the popular multiplayer game “Among Us” wearing a suit emblazoned with a hammer and sickle. Making reference to the Chinese Communist Party, which controls the country’s state apparatus, the figure was accompanied by the phrase “China is kinda sus”—referencing the game’s jargon for determining the “impostor,” or suspicious character, among the group.

The sticker quickly sparked backlash among Emerson community members, drawing accusations that Turning Point is fomenting Sinophobic discrimination, which has been on the rise since the pandemic began. Reports of anti-Asian hate crimes nationwide increased by 149 percent in 2020, and by 133 percent in Boston during the same time period, according to the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University.

Last year, five percent of Emerson’s student body identified as Asian/Pacific islander students.

11 percent, or 485 students, identified as international students, according to the college’s factbook—319 of those 485 were from China.

“The sticker targeted China, and China is someFenway Park. Alec Klusza / Beacon Archives where that we all grew up in [as Chinese international students],” said one Chinese-identifying student, who wished to remain anonymous. “For Chinese people, that idea of China is just so important that you automatically feel hurt. It’s not Dodgers utility player Kike Hernandez even political at that point.” helped propel the Sox to the postseason.

Qiuyang Chen, a junior international student Bloom picked up first basemen/outfielder from China, said the statement the sticker sent was Kyle Schwarder at the trade deadline, a inappropriate. shrewd move to bolster Boston’s already “Americans have a political bias towards Chideep lineup. na,” he said.

The Red Sox bats are far from their In response to the stickers, Emerson’s Chinese biggest problem, as the back half of their Student Association released a statement on Instarotation is a coin flip at best, and their gram denouncing TPUSA’s actions as “senseless” bullpen has blown numerous games. Out- and “intolerable.” side of performances from starters Nathan “We denounce all forms of racism and bigotry Eovaldi or Chris Sale, who is coming off against Chinese individuals as well as the entire of Tommy John surgery, the rest of the Asian community,” read the post, published on rotation has a 4.66 ERA. On the back end, Sept. 30. “Emerson is supposed to be an inclusive the Sox don’t have a set closer and have community, yet any hate speech is unacceptable maybe three bullpen arms that can be and we experience tremendous pain from this intrusted. cident.”

Baseball, Pg. 8 Controversy, Pg. 2

Red Sox in 4? Rays in 4? Fans predict ALDS Tyler Foy & Camilo Fonseca Beacon Staff The Boston Red Sox were able to take a breath after defeating the New York Yankees 6-2 in the American League Wild Card game on Tuesday night. The rivalry left many Sox fans celebrating but reality hit when the team hopped on their plane to Tampa Bay, Florida.

The Red Sox will be taking on the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series—a five game series to decide the fate of a 162 game season. The Rays finished with a franchise record setting record of 100-62 and the Sox defied preseason expectations and finished well over .500 with a record of 92-70.

Tampa will be hosting the first two games of the series as well as game five if the Sox force it due to their league leading record. The two teams are no stranger to one another as they played each other 19 times over the course of the season–the Rays won the season series 11-8. Boston is the underdog coming into the series but they aren’t completely out of it yet.

Boston Red Sox in four - Tyler Foy Red Sox Chief Baseball Officer Chaim Bloom came from the Tampa Bay front office to build his own cast of characters in Boston to compete with the well-oiled machine that is the Rays. His work has been well received—the signings of former Rays outfielder Hunter Renfroe and

Restaurants embrace COVID-free dining Camilo Fonseca Beacon Staff After over a year of pandemic restrictions stunting business, restaurants in Downtown Boston are finally seeing a semblance of normalcy, embracing a return to regular seating, dining processes, and the Emerson student body.

“We’ve definitely noticed the new crowd of young kids,” said Solomon “Sol” Sidell, who owns South Street Diner on Kneeland St. “One hundred percent, the atmosphere is back in Boston.”

For the first time since March 2020, eateries near the college can serve a student body uninhibited by pandemic-era online learning. However, they are still adjusting to the state’s revised COVID guidelines—or, more recently, the lack thereof—regarding indoor dining.

For restaurateurs like Sidell, the fall promises to be a season of increased revenue and foot traffic after several months of de-

pressed earnings brought on by indoor dining restrictions and the departure of college students over the summer.

“Now that we’re ‘in season,’ I would probably say 25 percent of the business is local college students,” Sidell said. “You have students from outside the city coming in for a late night meal once in a while, but the Emerson students—and Suffolk and Northeastern students—are the ones that come on a consistent basis, three, four or five times a week.”

Both Boston’s student and working populations have swelled in the past month, as both groups return to in-person settings after having been largely online or hybrid modalities. In December 2020, foot traffic in the center of Boston was down 80 percent from the previous year’s average; in the six months between then and July 2021, the same figure rose 138 percent, according to a study from the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District.

Restaurants, Pg. TK

52

positive COVID-19 tests

.18%

positivity rate

29,000+ tests completed

INSIDE THIS EDITION

Film students react to loosened production rules Pg. 3 Opinion: Women’s prison is misuse of funding Pg. 4 Opinion: Birth control shame is dangerous Pg. 5 New novel covers open marriage Pg. 6 Emerson students volunteer at shelter Pg. 7 Women’s volleyball defeated in 2019 finals rematch Pg. 8

News

The Berkeley Beacon

Buttons and signs laid out at the Turning Point USA tabling event.

Camilo Fonseca / Beacon Staff

October 7, 2021

2

A student holds a sign reading “Fuck Nazis.”

Marcus Cocova / Beacon Correspondent

Turning Point stickers spark Sinophobia controversy Cont. from Pg. 1 and we experience tremendous pain from this incident.”

“We are demanding an apology from TPUSA as well as appropriate disciplinary sanctions,” concluded the statement.

The association could not be reached for an interview.

The next day, college officials sent out a slew of statements denouncing the stickers, clarifying that all reports on the incident had been referred to the Office of Community Standards.

“It has come to my attention that several individuals were distributing stickers yesterday that included anti-Chinese messaging that is inconsistent with the college’s values and will not be tolerated on our campus,” Interim President Bill Gilligan wrote in an email to the community.

Gilligan said that the college’s commitment to free speech could not be used to violate those community standards of inclusivity, and denounced “all instances of anti-Asian bigotry and hate.”

Despite the backlash from administrators and students, TPUSA members maintain that the stickers were intended to comment on China’s government and political structure, not its people.

“Our main point [behind the sticker] was to discuss China, com-

“For Chinese people, that idea of China is so important that you automatically feel hurt.

It’s not even political at this point” Anonymous

munism, and the power [the CCP has] over the people there,” said K.J. Lynum, a junior writing, literature, and publishing major who serves as TPUSA’s campus coordinator.

The college promptly opened an investigation into TPUSA, reviewing potential community standard violations surrounding bias-related behavior and invasion of privacy.

According to an email from Director of Community Standards Julie Rothhaar-Sanders obtained by the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, the club will be suspended from on-campus activities pending the conclusion of the review.

TPUSA President Sam Neves said that college administrators did not contact his organization before issuing their respective public statements on the matter.

Both Gilligan and Jason Meier, director of student engagement and leadership, declined to comment, instead referring to the Sept. 30 email.

In an email to international students, Andrea Popa, director of the Office of International Student Affairs, said that words used to “create a hostile environment for community members” are unacceptable, despite the group’s argument that the stickers fall under their freedom of speech.

“To our Asian-identified and Asian-American students, you have

the right to be treated with respect and to feel safe on the campus you call home,” Popa wrote.

The stickers were not the first incident of anti-Asian sentiment circulating on Emerson’s campus.

In 2020, anti-Asian vandalism was displayed across multiple room doors in Emerson’s Little Building.

The Student Government Association drew attention to the issue, arguing it was part of a broader pattern of discrimination.

“We want to acknowledge that these are not isolated instances of racism and xenophobia,” the statement read. “Students of color and international students experience them everyday, it’s just a matter of how blatant it is. It doesn’t mean the everyday microaggressions are any less harmful.”

TPUSA and its members have received harsh public and private criticism in the days since the events unfolded, Neves said. He claimed that the organization’s members received death threats in the days following the event.

Lynum criticized Gilligan’s response, saying he acted rashly in calling the sticker emblematic of Asian hate.

“Our President was all too quick to virtue signal his view that this was Asian hate without investigating, in an overeager attempt to show that he is sensitive to racial issues,” Lynum, who is from Singapore, said.

The event was quick to reignite a campus discourse on the impact of TPUSA at Emerson two years after its creation in 2019. Nationally, the organization is known for its controversial and often-provocative presence on college campuses.

“I was kind of surprised it was approved by [SEAL], just because Turning Point’s whole thing is to trigger liberals,” said Noah Schulte, a junior political communications major. “[The college] should be doing everything they can to punish these students because what they were doing was blatantly racist.”

Alex, a senior visual and media arts major whose last name was not disclosed to The Beacon, said she believes TPUSA is nothing but a performative farce.

“I don’t really think they’re going to be changing anybody’s minds,” she said. “It’s more just theatre.”

Marcus Cocova / Beacon Correspondent contact@berkeleybeacon.com

Gilligan says presidency is ‘capstone’ to long career Cont. from Pg. 1 Pelton’s predecessor, Jacqueline Liebergott, took up the presidency on an interim basis before becoming the president full time, a role which she served in for 19 years. Gilligan said he has no intentions of following in her footsteps.

“I’m not interested in being the president on a permanent basis,” he said.

“They probably knew that, and that’s a good criterion … for picking somebody to be an interim president; it simplifies the presidential search process if the person who’s sitting in the interim role isn’t trying to become the permanent president. That’s probably the best reason to ask me to do it—I’m not interested in the job for the long haul.”

Gilligan also said he has “zero” input on the search for his successor.

“That’s by design,” he said. “It’s very typical that whoever’s in the role of a president doesn’t play any role whatsoever in the search for a replacement.”

Instead, the search is being led by a committee made up of board of trustees members, administrators, faculty members, and current students.

Despite his caretaker status, Gilligan stated that the presidency has been a

rewarding—if challenging—experience thus far. He said he sees his job as “projecting confidence, continuity, and stability.”

“I want to make sure that the institution is on an arc of constant improvement, as it has been for literally all the years I’ve been here,” he said.

“I want to make sure that the institution is in good financial condition. I want to make sure that all of those things are in a good way for the next president when that person arrives.”

Yet, the college currently faces a challenge in manning several key positions; since the end of 2020, Emerson has seen the departure of a number of high-level administrators, including Pelton, former General Counsel Christine Hughes, former Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Sylvia Spears, and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michaele Whelan.

Gilligan attributed much of the turnover to Pelton’s decision to depart the college in order to helm the Boston Foundation.

“When a leader of 10 years announces that they’re leaving, other people who were close to that person probably look at [other job] opportunities more closely than they had previously,”

he said. “It’s a naturally occurring phenomenon.”

The college has launched a search for Spears’ replacement, he said, but will not fill the provost position on a full-time basis until a new president is hired.

“The provost oversees the core business of the college, the academic affairs,” Gilligan said. “That really should wait until there’s a permanent president.”

“We have a critical need to fill that position more expeditiously,” he said of the vice president for equity and social justice position. “The world appropriately has a focus, and we at Emerson have a focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion … we just can’t wait to fill that position.”

The search for Spears’ successor will be directed by Gilligan and the administration.

“We are working right now on a process to choose … a national search firm with a great reputation for finding high-quality people in the ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion sphere,’” he said.

“Once we’ve gotten that search firm, we will put together a search committee of people on campus that will include administrators, faculty, and

Interrim President Bill Gilligan. / Courtesy Emerson College students, and we’ll go through a search process. … It’s not something that you want to hurry.”

With Pelton’s presidency focusing on expanding the college’s reach and strength as a liberal arts institution, Gilligan said he had no intentions of pivoting the college’s focus back to its professional majors.

“I would hate to think we had to make a choice between them,” he said.

“I addressed the incoming class at the Majestic Theatre just about a month ago, and one of the things I said to them was to seize the opportunity to dive in on the liberal arts core that we have here because it will inform their ability to function in the discipline that they’ve chosen; I said to them, ‘it might just make you a more interesting person.’”

Despite his years of experience at Emerson, Gilligan said taking on the presidency has given him a new view of the college’s mission and operation.

“It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been at an institution,” he said. “Sitting in the different seat—and this is a really different seat—you see things from a different perspective. The biggest surprise is how different the perspective is; it’s different everywhere you look at it.” charles_mckenna@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

October 7, 2021

3

Emerson students rally together at Boston Women’s March

Bailey Allen, Abigail Lee & Hannah Nguyen

Beacon Staff & Beacon Correspondent Thousands of people––college students and Boston residents alike––rallied at Franklin Park Playstead in Dorchester on Oct. 2, protesting the Supreme Court’s rejection of an emergency request to block Texas’s “abortion ban,” Senate Bill 8.

The event, organized by the American Civil Liberties Union, NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, and the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund of Massachusetts, was one of hundreds happening simultaneously nationwide that were affiliated with the Women’s March.

It drew individuals from across the Boston area, including several Emerson students who came in support of reproductive rights under threat in Texas and across the nation.

Hannah Flayhan, a sophomore journalism major, said she attended the march because reproductive rights were critically important to her as a young woman.

“I came out here because reproductive rights are an issue that, as a young woman, is very important to me,” she said. “Coming out, protesting, and supporting this cause was very important to me, and I’m happy that I was able to be a part of this.”

Elisa Davidson, a sophomore creative writing major, said she came out to the rally for a similar reason.

“It’s important for me to be able to choose for myself,” she said in regards to reproductive rights.

“Knowing that I want to be able to make my own choices, I want everyone else to be able to make their own choices as well.”

The event was headlined by several notable speakers, including political figures such as Massachusetts Sen. Ed Markey, Rep. Ayanna Pressley, and Attorney General Maura Healey. Occasionally, a chant would break out with a leader yelling, “We won’t go back!” and the crowd would respond, “We will fight back!” over and over until it would morph into an eruption of applause.

In his speech, Markey outlined his agenda for securing abortion rights on the federal level through broad-ranging structural reform in Washington D.C. “We must pass my legislation to expand the Supreme Court by four seats so that we can restore balance and justice of the Supreme Court,” Markey said, referring to the 6-3 conservative balance on the court that has existed since the adminis-

tration of former President Donald Trump. “We need to abolish the filibuster so we can pass the progressive laws we need in this country.”

Shortly after leaving the stage to an eruption of applause, Markey reiterated the importance of abortion rights in a brief interview.

“We’re going to build overwhelming public support for constitutional rights. That has to be protected for all women, all people in the United States,” Markey told The Beacon. “What today represents is the beginning of a movement that is going to inject itself into the politics of America in 2021, 2022, and beyond.”

Pressley, whose constituency includes Emerson and who has also introduced legislative action to prevent state and federal erosion of abortion rights, said in her address that government institutions are responsible for the backsliding in reproductive rights.

“The extremism of this Supreme Court has no shame and no bounds,” she said to the crowd. “They have stood in the way of voting rights, of

as to suspend Senate Bill 8, saying, “the moment S.B. 8 went into effect, women have been unlawfully prevented from exercising control over their lives in ways that are protected by the Constitution.”

Several speakers also linked the issue of abortion to a need for equitable affordable health services. In the U.S., 50 percent of women who had an abortion in 2014 lived below the poverty line, according to the American Journal of Public Health.

Once the speakers finished, protest organizers from the Party for Socialism and Liberation Boston led a march around the park. Protesters waved signs that displayed sayings such as, “Don’t tread on she,” “Against abortion? Don’t have one,” and “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries.”

Though many of the protesters were adults and college students, others were teenagers from across the Boston area. High school junior Ji Yann Chin said abortion rights became a pressing issue for her after months of following the news in Texas.

Protesters advocating the right to abortion. Elaina Bolanos / Beacon Staff housing rights, of reproductive freedom.”

Senate Bill 8, or the “heartbeat law,” signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in May, bans abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, also allowing almost any private citizen to sue healthcare providers who perform abortions.

“The Texas legislature is not on the people’s side,” Pressley said.

“The Texas governor is not on the people’s side. The extremist Supreme Court is not on the people’s side.”

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered Tex-

“We’re just teenage girls, and this affects our future very much,” Chin said.

Many protesters, including biology teacher Lauren Pelland, expressed the importance of solidarity with those in Texas and other states who are denied abortion access. “[We’re] very lucky to live in Massachusetts,” she said. “We need to support those that aren’t so lucky.”

Charlie McKenna contributed reporting. contact@berkeleybeacon.com

A film shoot. / Courtesy Ian Roper

Lights. Camera. Mask.

Action: Loosened COVID protocols a relief for film students Michael McHugh & Hayden Bandes

Beacon Correspondent Last fall, Emerson warned of the limitations the COVID-19 pandemic would place on student film productions: “We’re not going to be able to shoot it, so don’t write it.” This year, though, student filmmakers are entering an atmosphere of excitement as productions ramp up—and of caution, as the pandemic still lingers.

With almost all community members fully vaccinated, Emerson student productions are beginning to resemble how they operated prior to the pandemic by relaxing mask mandates and social distancing protocols, allowing for a semblance of normalcy.

Nevertheless, several directives from the Visual and Media Arts Department remain in place, hoping to curb COVID transmission on-set until COVID-19 is a thing of the past. The directives, first implemented in the fall of 2020, have been substantially loosened for the 2021 academic year. While all greenlit films must have one crew member become a certified “COVID Captain” and receive appropriate training, 15 cast and crew members are now permitted on set at any given time—as opposed to eight last fall.

Other elements of the plan will be familiar to those who worked on films last year—namely the indoor mask requirement, three feet social distancing guideline, and sanitizing protocols. These protocols are largely supervised by Director of Production and Safety Leonard “Lenny” Manzo, who could not be reached for comment on this article.

Following a year of uncertainty surrounding productions, students have expressed a genuine excitement to get back on set. The loosened restrictions have not only made production schedules easier, but they have allowed for crew

members to connect both on and off set.

“We can just hang out after production,” Wang said. “Normally, you’re like, ‘Alright! Mask on!

Gotta go, bye!’”

Senior visual and media arts major Owen Conti, who serves as president of National Broadcasting Society, has noticed this eagerness firsthand.

“We did a whole year of regulation and harsh rules and trying to adapt to production with limitations indoors,” he said. “Now people are really excited that the limitations are kind of lifting a little bit. The general feeling onset— and just at the school in general— is excitement to get back in person and involved in productions.”

Some student filmmakers, such as sophomore visual and media arts major Calvino Phillips, feel that their experiences last year prepared them to work creatively around those restrictions still in place—and take advantage of those lowered ones.

“If there’s one good thing that came out of this former pandemic, it has helped people think outside the box,” Phillips said. “I remember having to shoot with masks and stuff. How do you work around that? That helped some people creatively.”

Another student filmmaker, junior visual and media arts major, Charles Wang agreed.

“You always work around it,” he said. “You’re aware that there are some things you just cannot do because of COVID and that’s why you don’t come to set unprepared.

You always come with a backup plan, just to make sure, ‘Oh, if we actually cannot get this done because of COVID, let’s just do it another way.’”

contact@berkeleybeacon.com

Eateries emerge from pandemic with new perspectives Cont. from Pg. 1 The increase in professional workers in the area, many of them from the Emerson-adjacent Massachusetts Department of Transportation building or the city’s nearby financial district, has provided a boon for businesses like El Jefe’s Taqueria, owned by John Schall.

“We’re getting a fair number of residents from the neighborhood,” Schall said. “It’s still a pretty busy corner of Boston.”

El Jefe’s, along with other local establishments such as Tatte Bakery & Cafe and Garbanzo Mediterranean Fresh, ceased to be a full dining alliance partner with Emerson when the college announced that it would be curtailing its Board Bucks policy for the fall term to on-campus eateries only. As a result,

Schall feared his business would lose revenue from Emerson students, who could no longer eat there on a meal plan.

“I was worried a little bit,” he said.

“But that worry went away really quickly.”

Instead, El Jefe’s has thrived since the onset of the fall semester. In fact, Schall said the Boston Common location actually generated more revenue in the last several weeks than it did in the same period last year.

“I really do think we’ve developed a relationship and a reputation with Emerson students,” Schall said. “Emerson students are spending their own money at a higher overall daily sales rate than they were when they were spending Board Bucks.”

“The increase in sales we’ve gotten

from building up a relationship with them has more than offset the lack of Board Bucks from last year,” he added.

Schall said the lifting of Boston’s pandemic-related occupancy restrictions, which once limited restaurants to operating at 25 percent capacity, also buoyed his business. But where these restrictions limited some businesses, they forced others to think creatively.

In response to the pandemic, South Street Diner expanded its outdoor seating capacity to the adjacent parking lot.

Customers loved the outdoor option so much, the establishment decided to keep it even after the city lifted capacity restrictions.

“It was expected by the customers to have expanded outdoor seating,” Sidell said, “It was expected by the city and

Madison E. Goldberg / Beacon Staff was expected by your staff to be able to maintain everybody healthy and keep everybody outside as much as possible.”

The shift towards outdoor dining

wasn’t cheap. Sidell estimated it cost South Street thousands of dollars in tables, chairs and protective concrete barriers separating diners from Kneeland Street traffic.

“The idea is to break even the first year—you’re hoping,” he said, “And then as time goes on, you get a return on your investment.”

Nevertheless, the longtime owner-operator said the pressures of the pandemic gave him a new perspective on dining.

“It’s just been constant reinvention for the last 18 months,” Sidell said.

“We’re constantly moving forward, relearning, and retraining. Someday it’ll get easier—but not yet.” camilo_fonseca@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

Opinion

October 7, 2021

4

Turning Point U.S.A: should they have a voice on campus?

Justin Chen Beacon Staff Emerson students erupted with justified anger after the recent Turning Point U.S.A Emerson tabling event in the 2 Boylston Place alleyway, when the organization passed out stickers reading “China kinda sus” on Sept. 30. In the midst of this controversy, it’s not farfetched to ask—should TPUSA’s racist and insensitive views still be allowed a platform on campus?

Founded in 2012 by Charlie Kirk and Bill Montgomery, two well-known conservative pundits who later became prominent supporters of Donald Trump, TPUSA’S mission is said to “identify, educate, train, and organize students to promote the principles of freedom, free markets, and limited government.”

In essence, their goal is to persuade students to become more conservative economically, but that goal has seemingly all but vanished during the wake of the Trump presidency. TPUSA has become a prominent defender of the Trump administration and continues to offer a platform for former President Donald Trump despite saying that they are non-partisan.

In addition, the organization has been promoting many conspiracy theories regarding COVID-19 and the alleged 2020 election fraud. TPUSA has also been criticized for their racist remarks against minority groups. These ideologies damage the unity of our community and also many individuals.

They always argue that they are just asking a question, but many of their questions seem like political statements that are spreading falsehoods to the general public, and we know conspiracy theories are harmful to our community and put our democracy in peril. Just take

a look at what happened on Jan. 6. The insurrection took place because of those laughable conspiracy theories that have been pushed by Trump and the “Retrumplican” since they lost the election.

Con artist-in-chief Charlie Kirk has been promoting conspiracy theories regarding the 2020 election and the COVID-19 vaccine on many social platforms including right-wing media outlets such as Fox News and on his podcast, the Charlie Kirk Show. During one episode of his podcast, Kirk erroneously claims that between 123,000 to 1.2 million people have died from getting the COVID-19 vaccine. Regarding the 2020 election, Kirk tweets, “you can’t convince me that’s how an indisputably ‘secure election’ is run in the United States of America.” This came minutes after the latest Arizona audit proved the victory of President Biden.

Kirk is a racist. He has been a frequent critic of the Black Lives Matter movement by calling it domestic terrorism. On August 28, 2020, Kirk tweets the Black Live Matter movement is, “Domestic terrorism on full display, out in the open.

They don’t even try to hide it,” when the entire country was mourning for the tragic death of George Floyd.

Throughout the pandemic, Kirk has been frequently displaying anti-Asian sentiment by calling the Coronavirus, “China Virus,”the term he adapts from the former President, Donald Trump.

For example, Kirk tweeted on March 18, 2020, saying “so yes, it IS the Chinese Virus.” What he failed to understand is that using racist terms such as the “China virus” has been hurting the Asian-American community. We have seen countless examples around the U.S over the past year and a half.

Now, back to our own TPUSA, I want

to be fair and talk about myself and my experience with them.

The organization branded themselves as a group that is “accepting people from all political ideologies,” which inspired me to attend two of their meetings since the beginning of this semester. The members were very approachable. They respected every person’s political beliefs even when there were disagreements from time-totime. We were able to have constructive discussions, which was something we rarely see in our society today.

However, what happened last week made me feel as though I was cheated by them. In addition, their response due to the outrage made me feel defeated.

It makes me wonder—how is Emerson College allowing the existence of such an organization?

At this moment, this organization is no different than what Kirk, it’s founder, has been promoting. After the event taking place on Wednesday, the organization’s treasurer, KJ Lynum, pushed the controversy to its climax.

While not apologizing for the misuse of the word “China,” Lynum, who is from Singapore, said that she was “offended by people who suggest that I have hatred towards my own race,” adding that she cannot put the entire phrase of the Chinese Communist Party on the sticker. This is pure hypocrisy and quite laughable.

Firstly, racism does not only apply to one racial group having biases towards the other racial group. It could happen between people within one race. We have seen many instances around the country, just take a look at California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder and Texas GOP congressional candidate Sery Kim. Secondly, their ridiculous explanation of the use of the word “China’’ simply

does not make any sense. Lynum says that “China” on the sticker is pointing to the Chinese Communist Party and the organization wants to see the world hold the party accountable. However, the majority of students on campus know the abbreviation for the Chinese Communist Party. Why can’t the organization print the abbreviation of the Chinese Communist Party on the sticker since it is not only sending out a clearer message, but it also contains fewer letters?

TPUSA Emerson failed to realize that by using the word “China,” the organization is generalizing 1.4 billion people from China and the Asian Community as“sus.” This includes the Chinese international students and Asian-American students at the college. Many students called out their wrongdoing and expressed their anger to the organization on its Instagram page, which means the organization knows that the message they are converting is deemed racist and knows of the anger rising within the Emerson community. Why are they still staying silent after piles of complaints?

As a Liberal that holds a Libertarian-leaning political ideology, andalso as someone from a Chinese descent, I am disappointed to see this ridiculous response from the organization. I feel like I was slapped in the face. I believe the majority of the Emerson community feels the same way.

Throughout the entirety of this past week, I have heard many students from the Asian community express their concerns to me. They feel less welcomed on campus, and this should never happen.

The racist and cowardly response mady

by TPUSA Emerson has sent out a message that will damage their reputation.. I am glad to see members from the community condemn TPUSA’s unacceptable

Justin Chen, Class of 2023 / Courtesy of Justin Chen behavior and show support for the AAPI community. But, we still cannot let their ignorance go untouched. It should be condemned by every single member of the Emerson community, including the school’s administration and student government, until TPUSA issues a proper apology.

The students and the administration should hold the organization accountable. The administration should demand the leaders of the organization to apologize publicly and disband the organization instead of investigating it. An investigation is pointless since the entire campus witnessed what was unfolding.

justin_chen@emerson.edu

Planned women’s prison a step in the wrong direction Shannon Garrido Beacon Staff MCI-Framingham, built in 1877, is one of the oldest women’s state prisons in the U.S. Needless to say, the facility is in need of structural repair, or in this case, a replacement.

Massachusetts intends to do so with a $50 million Correctional Center at Norfolk’s Bay State.

But, upon further investigation, it becomes clear that this money would be better spent on social services, including counseling and care for children in neglectful or abusive situations, food and housing subsidies, healthcare plans, job training, adoption/foster care services, and more. All of these programs have been proven to serve as effective methods of crime reduction.

The Sentencing Project, a research and advocacy center working for decarceration, strongly supports redirecting funds towards education at an elementary and secondary level as crime prevention.

This is because the criminal justice is an unequal system divided in almost all departments, the main one being socio-economic conditions.

Federal data from the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights suggests that incarcerated women are usually low-income before their convictions and normally charged with nonviolent drug or property crimes. Moreover, most of these women have experienced physical or sexual violence.

This is not surprising, since many Massachusetts women who cannot make bail are sent to prison for not having enough money for a trial.

Moreover, keeping women in prison is incredibly costly for state departments as well. In Massachusetts alone, according to the Department of Correction, it costs more than $117,000 a year for each individual woman incarcerated at Framingham. It’s not

suggested were investing in organizations that support individuals recently released from prison, creating more affordable housing, increasing food access, and expanding job training.

I have to say that I agree with Comerford, the construction of a new prison is unsustainable and counterproductive. To use the unwell state of the Framingham facility as an opening to create an entirely new facility defeats the purpose of ‘crime prevention.’ It instead closes the door for outreach projects and opens the door for higher incarceration rates.

Not to mention that because Massachusetts has the lowest incarceration populations for women in the country, now holding a population of less than 200 women, they should be encouraged to invest in alternatives to prison. Instead, the state is barreling ahead with the proposal to build a new facility that will disproportionately affect low-income women.

It’s clear that this large sum of $50 million for a new prison can be reallocated to communities; small sums of which can be used for repairs to the prison instead of an expansion.

Another reason for this expansion, according to the Department of Correction in Massachusetts, is to construct a facility to assist in “trauma-induced care,” which could not be more of an oxymoron. Prisons are made to traumatize inmates — their mere existence is supposed to scare citizens into not committing crimes.

Prisons are made to be terrible, there is no real way around that. A facility in which you have no privacy and minimal contact with the outside world or any of your private possessions already sounds like a nightmare.

Add in all the terrible things that come with creating these hostile environments such as interpersonal violence, police brutality, and a lack of proper health care, prisons can’t care for traumatized prisoners if they contribute and/or cause this trauma.

Understandably, this initiative has been dubbed impossible by many activist organizations, such as the National Council for Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated Women and Girls.

Andrea James, the organization’s director, is speaking from personal experience, seeing as she served a federal prison sentence.

On Sept. 10, during a march from Worcester City Hall to the Worcester County Jail & House of Correction in

West Boylston, James told The State House News Service that, “It’s the culture of incarceration that causes further harm and does not change, regardless of the jail or prison.”

James went on to say, “We know the conditions in Massachusetts prisons are toxic and inhumane because our loved ones lived in them and we have lived in them.”

Susan Sered, a professor of sociology and criminal justice at Suffolk University, also spoke out on the issue at WBUR News, stating that “I don’t think that a prison is a place that anybody is going to heal from trauma.

Prison in and of itself is traumatizing.”

It doesn’t matter how you paint it, prison is prison. Inmates are cut off from the outside world, forced to live amongt strangers in unfathomable conditions. Not to mention that once they are released, they are expected to make a living once again, while being treated as second-class citizens.

Looking from the outside in, it might seem like a good idea to invest in a new and improved facility, but it strays away from what should be the main goal — reducing incarceration rates. This can only happen if we address the issues that lead to committing a crime, not building more and more facilities to lock people up.

Especially when that money can, and should, be reallocated to much-needed community social services.

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Editor-in-Chief Charlie McKenna

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Anything submitted to the Beacon becomes the sole property of the newspaper. No part of the publication may be reproduced by any means without the express written permission of the editor.

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Shannon Garrido (Opinion) Tyler Foy (Sports) Kaitlyn Fehr (Copy)

MCI-Framingham / Courtesy of Mass.gov very smart to invest more money in a system that doesn’t reduce incarceration rates and costs these facilities so much money.

Money that could be cut and redistributed towards housing, childcare, and practical assistance outside a correctional facility. Money that in the case of Framingham could be cut by a quarter of its original sum if invested in women’s health, education, and community outreach projects, which seems like a much better way to provide an environment of wellbeing that leads to crime reduction. In a state with an already low female incarceration rate, the main goal should be to keep it that way, not to build new prisons.

The initiation of this project didn’t sit well with some lawmakers who believed this money should be spent differently. Senators like Jo Comerford are doing what they can to slow down the construction process with a bill that, if passed, would halt the progress towards the potential construction of the new women’s prison in Norfolk for up to five years.

Comerford told the State Administration and Regulatory Oversight Committee that because of the aforementioned inequalities in the criminal justice system we should look for several alternatives to spending state funds. Some of the alternatives he

Section Editors Camilo Fonseca (News) Mariyam Quaisar (Living Arts)

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The Berkeley Beacon

October 7, 2021

5

The pill made me someone I’m not, and I don’t blame the hormones Sophia Pargas Beacon Staff

Growing up, one of my family’s most watched movies was “The Bad News Bears,” a 1976 classic whose entire script quickly earned a permanent spot in my brain. Though the movie is about a little league baseball team and its all too raunchy coach, what sticks out the most in my mind is the description of something seemingly unassociated with the film: birth control. When the film’s only female protagonist, Amanda, mentions the fact that her friend started “the pill,” she is greeted with the statement, “Don’t you ever say that word again.”

Though the scene takes up barely 15 seconds of the film, I am slowly beginning to understand that statements like this have cultivated a stigma of shame and negativity surrounding contraceptives. Even more so, now that the little pink pill has made a home on my own nightstand, I am realizing that the side effects of starting birth control begin long before it is even a thought in young womens’ minds. As a result, these adverse effects extend much further than what any pharmacist or gynecologist could possibly warn, affecting mental, emotional, and physical health (and not just hormonally). To put it simply, the stigma surrounding sex results in a fear and shame of birth control which is both dangerous and oppressive to young women.

When I made my first gynecologist appointment to start birth control just a few short months ago, I remember the red creeping onto my cheeks as I told my doctor the reason for the visit. While my nervous voice awkwardly traveled across the tiny consultation room, my mind roamed wildly to places of fear, hesitation, and discomfort.

Am I making a mistake? Is that a look of judgement in her eyes? Why didn’t I just sign up for one of those birth control subscriptions I saw on TikTok? Although my doctor could not wrap her mind around the embarrassment and shame I felt in starting the pill, I’ve come to realize that these feelings were neither new nor misplaced; they had been festering long before I even had a clue of what sex was.

I can vividly remember the day our fifth grade teachers sent home a consent form that notified our parents that we would be talking about the anxiously awaited inevitable—puberty. While the boys’ talk was appropriately labeled a “puberty seminar,” ours was labeled a “hygiene talk.”

Unknowingly, at just ten and eleven years old, we were experiencing the first inkling that the topic of sex was not the same for boys and girls.

As the boys learned about their reproductive systems, the girls learned about the importance of deodorant and being hygienic when our periods came. While the boys snickered and shared their experiences of their seminar, the girls walked around with flushed cheeks and nervous hands. These seemingly trivial differences in the way sex education is introduced to children leave a permanent imprint on the way girls will view themselves for the rest of their lives. Already, we were being taught to be uncomfortable with our bodies even in their most natural forms, a feeling which is easily taught but impossibly relinquished.

As the years went by and childhood immaturities slowly faded into harsh and bitter judgements, the stigmas on sex only seemed to become more obvious, and their

existence only took more of a toll on my mental health. Looking back, it is not surprising that I struggled so much when starting the pill—it was never presented to me as a real, safe, and respectable option.

Instead, contraceptives were the prayer to the sin that was having sex, the scarlet letter on the chests of those assumed to be “getting around.” Having attended a Catholic school from kindergarten all the way through senior year, I was always taught that chastity was the only acceptable form of contraception.

My school even went as far as attending an annual conference dubbed “Chastity Day” in which every 14-year-old was herded into an auditorium and taught that STIs, teen pregnancy, and condemnation to hell were all inevitable results of premarital sex.

One of the highlights of the day was watching a video entitled “Like A Pair of Old, Worn Out Shoes” which compared losing our virginity to anyone other than our spouse as giving away a grimy pair of sneakers as a gift.

Another, was being given a “chastity card” to publicly sign as an unbreakable commitment to save ourselves until marriage, a token

“Already, we were being taught to be uncomfortable with our bodies even in their most natural forms.” which we were instructed to carry in our wallets or hang on our walls as a constant reminder to resist temptation.

Needless to say, the existence of condoms and birth control was never mentioned in the midst of the chanting nuns or ashamed “born again virgins” who warned us against their lives of sin and guilt.

In the 208 person class at my all girl high school, the taboo associated with sex only began to grow as gossip traveled come Monday morning. It seemed that the intimate details of every girl’s sex lives became public knowledge, the news of lost virginities and the whispers of “slut” and “whore” being hurled around the hallways like rapid fire, burning reputations to the ground as they did so.

Meanwhile, the same boys they were hooking up with were being congratulated and praised, their characters being raised to new levels even as their counterparts suffered the harshest judgements. While sex is a two person act, it is percieved extremely different for boys and girls, and this experience is not singular

to me.

For young girls, having sex is often at the cost of pride, dignity, and even respect. Undoubtedly, I too fell into the commonplace mentality that sex was a dishonorable act that was unnatural and even desperate.

Somewhere deep inside of me, I carried this mindset throughout the duration of my high school years.

While I would love to say that I have been able to relinquish this way of thinking for good, I have recently learned that the picture of sex as sinful and shameful is still within me, still affecting the way I define my own worth and actions.

It wasn’t until this summer when I got into my first real relationship that all of the stigmas surrounding sex began to slowly make themselves known to me, and affect me in ways they never could before. Even though I knew that starting the pill was the best and safest option for me, I could not shake unrelenting feelings of doubt, hesitation, and fear; it always made to be this way. The process of starting birth control was never designed to be an easy one.

After having always been taught that sex was a one way ticket to hell and witnessing girls’ entire reputations be stained with its scar, my biggest concern with starting birth control was that it meant letting people know I needed it. Expectedly, this was a very hard thing to come to terms with.

Unlike most young women, however, I am fortunate enough to have a mom who never once shamed or judged me for my actions, but instead encouraged me to get on birth control and took me to my first appointment. She listened as I expressed doubt after neverending doubt, distraught over the possibility of becoming depressed, gaining weight, or turning into an entirely different person altogether. For this, I am extremely grateful. Too many of my friends have begun taking a life-altering hormone without informing the people meant to protect them, which is not only draining but also utterly dangerous.

If young girls feel uncomfortable and ashamed to inquire about birth control in their schools, to their friends, and even within their own homes, they have no space to gain the necessary knowledge on the different forms of contraceptives and their effects. This in itself takes a toll on the mental health of so many young, vulnerable, and scared girls. There is nothing more isolating than feeling like, no matter where you go or who you turn to, you are standing in a room full of people jumping at any opportunity to judge and chastise you. Even worse, there is nothing more defeating than being incessantly made to feel like you deserve it.

The day I was prescribed the pill, the part of me that still saw birth control as alien and unconventional was expecting it to be a drawn out process where I was met with discerning eyes or a sour tone. Much to my surprise, the procedure seemed to be too easy, too simple, too quick.

It was almost as if my gynecologist expected me to know exactly what I was getting myself into, so she skipped the formality of warning me of the neverending list of side effects and hormonal changes I could experience.

Instead, I learned about the pill and its horrors through my friends, TikTok, and the incessant amounts of articles which came up in response to my persistent google searches: ‘Will the pill make me gain weight? When I start birth control, will I be able to control my emotions? How fast will I notice symptoms?’ In other words,

Birth control pills. Mariyam Quaisar / Beacon Staff media, in school, and in every aspect how much of myself is dissolving of society since I was just a little girl, everyday at 9PM when my alarm reminds me to pop my little pink pill? I believed that the pill and all of its cruelty was a punishment that justly In reality, none of the articles fit the crime that is having sex. If I prepared me for what I would excouldn’t handle losing the version perience on my first dosage of birth of myself I once knew, I should have control. Without even realizing it, chosen chastity over contraceptives. my entire demeanor changed a little It took a lighthearted disagreement more each day. with my mom and sister to finally set Most days, anything would set me over the edge, for the monthme off, or nothing at all—that was long emotional turmoil, insecurities, even worse. The sudden changes and self loathing to finally spill all in my hormone levels resulted in over the floor of my mom’s Honda uncontrollable emotional outbreaks minivan. of unmanageable rage, unconcealIt was then that my mother called able happiness, and uncontainable my gynecologist as I sobbed unconsadness. Where I was once stable, trollably in the passenger seat, my happy, and level-headed, I was little sister watching in confusion now bewildered, inconsolable, and from the second row. As my mom unhinged. It seemed the blue skies I rattled off my symptoms of spontahad once known to be my mind had neous crying, emotional outbursts, suddenly become a hurricane of misand paranoia that everyone in my matched and exaggerated emotions who seemed to be just as confused by life —family, friends, boyfriend—all hated me, my doctor informed my their presence as I was. mom that suicidal thoughts were When I looked in the mirror, I often among the next in this train of no longer saw myself but an overly side effects. Even still, I had to finish fragile, overly hollow version of her that month’s pack.

While I have since switched to a new dosage of hormones which has been drastically kinder to my emotional and mental health, I still constantly question whether I am the same person I was before starting birth control.

I am still constantly in battle with the young, innocent, impressionable version of myself who was relentlessly taught that the worst thing a girl could do is have sex. Still, my use of the pill causes merciless strains on my sense of self-worth, my feeling of security, and my overall mental and emotional health. Still, I keep my pills tucked away in my drawer or zipped up in my purse to rip away anyone’s opportunity to judge me based on my own decision to utilize a safe and necessary contraceptive tool.

And still, the words from “The Bad News Bears” ring all too often in my ears, shaming me and every other young woman like me from speaking staring back at me. Her sunken and out against the stigmas surrounding defeated eyes held no memory of sex and birth control. my hopeful, contented ones. I could Just by being women, these prebarely recognize her. conceived judgements are inherently Despite the effects the pill had on forced upon us and define the way my emotional and mental state, I was we fit into the world before we can insistent upon sticking with it. For even decide where we belong for me, the issue with the pill was that ourselves. This article is my first step I questioned every side effect I had. on the journey of stopping those I had convinced myself that it was words for good. I hope it can be a matter of strength; if I kept going yours, too. without admitting how it was really affecting me, I’d eventually learn to navigate and control it.

For weeks, I could not express the extent of what I was experiencing on sophia_pargas@emerson.edu the pill. Just like I had learned in the

“The process of starting birth control was never designed to be an easy one.”

The Berkeley Beacon

Living Arts

October 7, 2021

6

‘Women, Myth, and Power’ pits classical art against modern morality JT Breaux Beacon Correspondent TW: Mentions of sexual assault and abuse.

A new exhibition at The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, which opened on Aug. 12 and runs until Jan. 2, entitled Titian: Women, Myth, and Power, reunites six ancient paintings that have a dark and complicated personal history and lore.

The oil-on-canvas paintings are all made to depict Greco-Roman myths, featuring iconic characters like Jupiter, Diana, and Theseus. Nearly all the subjects are nude, and are etched upon sixby-six foot canvases in vivid color and truer-than-life detail.

The group of artworks are referred to as the poesie—a French word meaning “poetry paintings.” The paintings were named as such because each is based on a poem within the ancient Roman author Ovid’s most famous work, “Metamorphoses,” a 12,000 line epic poem chronicling his interpretation of the entire history of the world up until the assassination of Juilus Caesar. The collection was crafted by renowned renaissance artist Tiziano Vecelli, or as he’s better known, Titian.

The pieces were originally commissioned by King Phillip of Spain in 1550, and following his death, were separated from each other and scattered across Europe. One painting, however, was highly sought after by the famed Boston local art collector—Isabella Stewart Gardner.

Thus, The Rape of Europa crossed the sea to the United States in 1896.

Piera Cavalchini, the esteemed Tom and Lisa Blumenthal Curator of Contemporary Art at the museum, explained the history of the piece at the Museum’s Creative Collision panel. The panel also featured two contemporary filmmakers whose work supplements the exhibition, as well as leading experts in the fields of art, mythology, and history.

“As the title suggests, the painting depicts the character Europa’s abduction and eventual rape,” Cavalchini said in the artist panel. “Titian’s other poesie, of

which there are five, also called painted poems like the Rape of Europa, are all these big stories of sexual violence and coercion, themes not uncommon to Renaissance artists.”

In addition to the six poesie and two other 500-year-old portraits by Titian, the exhibition also showcases two contemporary pieces, which were made in response to Titian’s work.

“We share our founder Isabella Stuart Gardner’s commitment to the living artist, to contemporary artists,” Cavalchini said. “This season, we are engaging with artists who have influenced and who are influenced by the feminist movement and cultural critique, and who let their work challenge the portrayal and objectification of women and art and society.”

One contemporary response piece, Body Language, is a piece of digital graphic art by Barbara Kruger, a cutting-edge figure in the art world who specializes in collage, that rearranges details from Titian’s poem painting Diana and Actaeon to capture an obscured and sexually provocative moment in time. It was designed to stimulate thoughts and reconsiderations about power, sexuality, and submission. The image is installed on the Anne H. Fitzpatrick Façade on the outside wall of the Museum’s main entrance, covering the edifice in display screens.

The other response piece is a short film by internationally renowned filmmakers Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley. Their film is narrated by a more modern-looking version of Europa who is dressed in business wear, and snarkily addresses the audience between scenes.

Europa’s screen time is intercut with limericks detailing fables and folklore about mythological women from around the Mediterranean. The poems are worded in a peculiarly vulgar manner, and are recited over crude vaudevillian stage acts.

Mary Reid Kelley is a resident artist at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum who painted the film’s sets, wrote the poetry, and acted as the entire cast, among other artistic roles.

“One of our first impressions seeing the painting was that it was funny,” Mary

Reid Kelley said. “There was a clear slapstick quality in the way that Europa is tumbling off the back [of the bull] and her skirts are flying up in a very Marilyn Monroe predicting way. The Cupids and the fish are kind of mimicking what she’s doing. And so it’s clearly fun. And then of course, the bull’s face, which is probably my favorite part of the painting, is just kind of looking at you like, ‘Did you get that?’ Like it was waiting for the laugh.”

For many who saw the film and others who attended the museum’s artists’ panel featuring the Kelley’s, this approach seemed to be a shocking transgression into the realm of humor and whimsy, given the dark story being played out in the source material.

The original tale, hailing from Ovid’s epic poem “Metamorphoses,” is the story of Europa’s rape at the hands of Zeus, the God of thunder and king of Gods.

He transforms himself into a bull and urges Europa to climb onto his back. He abducts her and whisks her away to the island of Crete, where he reveals his true identity to her, and proceeds to assault her and leave her to bear three of his children.

Mary Reid Kelley made it clear that she and her partner understood the gravity and darkness of the tale that they were reinterpreting.

“She’s experiencing a real annihilation,” Mary Reid Kelley said. “To us there were those two facets: the being funny and also the acknowledging of the severity of the crime and the absolute destruction of the being.”

Patrick Kelley, a videographer by trade who helped on various production aspects of the piece, added his own thoughts on the matter at the Museum’s Creative Collision panel.

“When we say that we both saw this humor in the painting, we have to qualify that it’s humor with a patina,” Kelley said. “That patina, or at least for us, is knowing who the initial audience was.

It was this closed audience of all men, painting men, painting for other men.

We’re perceiving that sort of a one-layer-removed of humor in the sense that it was done with this inside joke which is fetishizing violence.”

A new Isabella Stewart Gardner museum exhibit tackles anicent lore in modern context. / Courtesy Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

At the panel, Jill Burke, a Professor of Renaissance Visual and Material Cultures at the University of Edinburgh, explained that although the history of the poesie’s original residence is shrouded in secrecy, much can be gathered from the surrounding context. This context is vital to understanding Titian’s thought process in crafting a series of paintings that leveraged humor against stories of brutal tragedy.

“We know they were in a small room,” Burke said. “They were for Philip and they would have been intended for him and some intimate friends at the Spanish court. Spain particularly had a lot of taboos against nakedness, and against female sexuality and representations of birth, more than other European countries. The generation after Philip II started to have reserved rooms. They were just for aristocrats, just for men, to see these images. These images were not at all intended for a general audience.”

Burke echoed the Kelleys’ sentiments that the six poesie were “inside jokes,” and that they weren’t designed to be renowned works of great art. At least, not in the way that we think about art in a modern context. They weren’t commissioned to inspire or to enlighten—in fact, they were probably something more akin to porn.

“These images are already kind of... gendered,” Burke said. “The ideas of the audience and these images are gendered and classed right from the start, right from when they were made.”

King Philip’s viewing room, and others like it, were one of the only ways for Spanish men of the era to look at naked women—other than their wives—in a “dignified” context, according to Burke.

They were, in essence, the equivalent of a pin-up magazine made for only the most

chic 16th century aristocrats.

None of this is said to belittle the artistic value of Titian’s work, or of the exhibition at all, actually quite the opposite.

Where Philip and his royal cronies ultimately failed to grasp the tragedies and complexities of Ovid’s tale and Europa’s trauma, Titian as well as the Kelley partners prevail spectacularly.

When the paintings are viewed in a way that looks past the surface beauty of the light, color, and the pure and naked bodies within, they are filled with a sort of eeriness, something that’s almost close to horror. It hides in the little details of all the pieces, in a way that can only be fully taken in when looking at the paintings in person at full size, standing around six feet high.

Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley’s film captures a similar unnerving property. It’s in the way that Europa stumbles around ruins, searching blindly for something while her eyes are covered by prop replica irises.

“With some types of assault and violence, it can take a long time to realize what’s happened,” Mary Reid Kelley said. “Certainly in cases like date rape or things that you think were ‘just an accident’ or a ‘misunderstanding’ and this is kind of how you’re coached to interpret it. So we see Europa basically piecing it together. That was kind of our way of acknowledging one common reality of assault.”

The pairing of the painting The Rape of Europa alongside the Kelleys’ masterfully bizarre film of the same name carried the power to make one feel truly disoriented, truly uncomfortable, and truly terrified.

It’s an excellent feeling. jonathan_breaux@emerson.edu

WLP professor’s new novel set to release January 2022 Rachel Hackam Beacon Correspondent A new novel by writing, literature, and publishing professor Jon Papernick follows a married couple as they navigate their polyamorous relationship and Jewish customs, and is set to be released early next year.

Papernick began writing I Am My Beloveds just before his last book, The Book of Stone: A Novel, was released in summer 2015. It took over four years and five drafts until I Am My Beloveds was finished.

“Sometimes the writing would go very quickly, other times I would get stuck and wouldn’t touch the thing for months,” Papernick said in an interview.

The novel examines marriage struggles in a new light when the two protagonists engage in an open relationship. In addition to other marital struggles, the characters battle fertility issues while remaining within the confines of Jewish law.

“The book completely captures what we are now as Jews and how we define family, tradition, and identity,” Michelle Caplan, the editor-in-chief for the publisher of Papernick’s previous novel, said.

The title, I Am My Beloveds, originates from the Song of Songs, one of the last books of the Hebrew Bible. Traditionally, it is translated as “I am my beloved’s,” however, Papernick dropped the apostrophe to give the phrase a new meaning.

“The removal of the apostrophe means everything,” Papernick said. “It implies that you are your beloveds.”

While crafting I Am My Beloveds, Papernick explored the different attachment styles through the lens of attachment theory, which describes the various bonds formed during early childhood, such as secure and insecure attachment.

Although one might assume a published author is always confident in their writing abilities, Papernick faced some self doubt when writing I Am My Beloveds. He questioned whether he was skilled enough to be writing the story.

“I sometimes find it hard not to compare my current draft to my last published piece,” Papernick said. “You need to keep an inner dialogue with yourself, reminding yourself this is normal and a first draft isn’t supposed to be perfect.

Put something down on paper and improve upon it.”

While writing, Papernick found the exchanges between characters flowed easily, especially when there was con-

flict being resolved through dialogue.

“Writing fiction characters is like having a conversation with yourself since you need to be able to get into their shoes and hold two opposing viewpoints, integrating them smoothly,” Papernick said. “I see parts of myself in all my characters, however, I resonate most with Shira and am writing the sequel to this novel through her perspective.”

This past summer, Papernick sat down and wrote the first 90 pages of the sequel to I Am My Beloveds, told through Shira’s perspective.

“I’ve always believed in this story and seen it as a series, and I hope readers will fall in love with the characters,” Caplan said. “Papernick understands the dynamics of people in complex ways, giving him a strong capacity for prose.”

While many of his other books discuss complex topics such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this story takes a much lighter approach. Caplan encouraged him to experiment with a different style of writing, and showcase his range with a love-story.

“I had asked Jon to try and write a modern retelling of Enemies, A Love Story, but I had no idea how magnificently he’d deliver,” Caplan said.

Caplan has provided a tremendous boost to Papernick’s career over the

years.

“Michelle has always made me feel like I could be the writer I wanted to be,” Papernick said.

Papernick was raised Jewish in Toronto, Ontario, a city with a large Jewish community, and his Jewish identity in-

WLP Professor Jon Papernick. /Courtesy Jon Papernick

Papernick has taught at Emerson for 15 years now, however, he still views himself as more of a mentor and an artist rather than an academic professor.

“Being around younger people and hearing new words helps to keep me young and current,” Papernick said.

“Although it can be hard to write during a busy semester, I love teaching at Emerson.”

During the pandemic, Papernick focused less on writing and more on being a good teacher. Switching to online classes in the middle of the semester made him want to draw a closer connection to his students.

“I really wanted to be there for them and be the best teacher I could be,” Papernick said. “I understood that we were living in unprecedented times and we were juggling online learning as well.

I wanted to help them [in] any way I could as we navigated quarantine.”

Papernick hopes readers will gain an understanding of the complex issues discussed in the novel, as well as a new perspective on a nontraditional relationship.

“I hope to shed light on an unfamiliar situation in the most human way possible,” Papernick said.

fluenced many of his books—including I Am My Beloveds.

rachel_hackam@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

October 7, 2021

7

Elly Bryant and Olivienne Redding volunteering. / Courtesy of Megan Quinones

Emerson students embrace volunteer work at St. Francis House Maeve Lawler Beacon Correspondent

Three Emerson students participated in the college’s orientation volunteer event at St. Francis House, the largest day shelter for those experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts, located in downtown Boston.

The event was organized by Madelyn Domek ‘23, who started volunteering with the shelter in late August of 2020. First years Marine Savour and Hailey Faith Collier attended with sophomore Olivienne Redding.

Despite a pause in volunteer opportunities during the early stages of COVID-19, St. Francis remained open to guests—those unhoused and experiencing homelessness or poverty— every day during the pandemic. Volunteers are now accepted in a limited capacity.

Domek works within the Food Services and Expressive Therapy Department, which offers guests the opportunity to gather in the Margaret Stewart Lindsay Art Studio at St. Francis and create art in various mediums.

“The programs that [St. Francis House] offers for individuals facing homelessness and food insecurity are just unparalleled in the Boston area,” Domek said. “They really put forth tremendous effort into helping people move to life beyond the streets. I really respected that and I wanted to be a part of facilitating that positive change.”

After volunteering independently at the shelter, Domek came up with the idea of fostering a connection between Emerson and St. Francis House when she saw the lack of students helping the homeless.

“I felt like there was sort of a missing piece with Emerson College, because it being just down the street, it didn’t make sense to me that there weren’t more Emerson students signing up to volunteer or just at their various events,” Domek said. “Something that really keeps people from volunteering it’s not that they don’t want to do it, it’s just that it’s hard to carve time out of your schedule to do something like that.”

Domek worked with Jenna Coviello, the program coordinator for Student Engagement and Leadership, to encourage students to volunteer at St. Francis. Coviello was interested in integrating Domek’s idea as part of Emerson’s orientation and helped her expand it.

“I presented [my idea] to some of the faculty on the board for orientation, just giving them an overview,” Domek said. “I really relied on the wonderful orientation leaders. They really helped boost engagement with the students for the event.”

To promote the event, Domek used both word of mouth and social media.

She also did an “Instagram takeover” on the college’s Instagram to advertise the event.

“I had some spots open before I did the social media take over and then after it, they just filled up immediately,” Domek said. “It made me so happy to be part of a community that’s just so ready to get involved. [After orienta-

tion,] people walked away with new friends that they could go to the dining hall with and friends that they can go back to St. Francis House and volunteer with.”

Domek said she intended to send a message to Emerson students regarding the importance of volunteering locally.

“For the Emerson community, I hope that there’s more of a feeling of ‘my actions have power and they’re impactful,’” Domek said.

Within the shelter, volunteer positions are available in the Food Services and Expressive Therapy Department, with occasional opportunities to work in the Clothing Department, which is expected to reopen in the middle of fall at full capacity.

Each department offers a unique experience for volunteers. Megan Quinones, the volunteer services coordinator for St. Francis, describes the Food Services Department as a “fast-paced” environment. Volunteers interact with a lot of people in a particular time frame while serving guests daily meals offered at the shelter.

Quinones said St. Francis attracts a wide array of volunteers, including college students, teachers, and retirees.

Savour, a visual media arts major, volunteered in the Food Services Department and described the experience as fulfilling and a reality check. “[This allows us to] watch our beliefs and make sure we still consider each person we meet first as an individual as opposed to someone separate from ourselves,” Savour said. “We are so privileged to live the lives we do, so why wouldn’t we take a couple hours out of our week to help others?”

The Expressive Therapy Department has a capacity of six people at time, Quinones said.

“A lot of the time, [guests] want to go in for that one on one connection with our amazing art therapist, Gurleen [Anand],” she said. “We love to plug our volunteers in this space and just see the relationships that are able to develop between them and our guests.”

Redding, a marketing communications major who volunteered in the Expressive Therapy Department, said she was inclined to become involved in not only the Emerson community but also the greater Boston community.

While helping to cut out paper hearts for arts and crafts, Redding had the opportunity to closely interact with some of the guests.

“We did art, we talked to them, and we just really learned about their life,” Redding said. “I definitely want to incorporate going there at least once a week. It was a humbling experience and just felt really good to give back so close to where we are.”

St. Francis House is also working to make the Clothing Department a more dignified space, Quinones said.

“Right now this is a lot of sorting and organizing because we’re aiming to re-open our Clothing Department mid-fall at the capacity it operated in prior to COVID-19,” Quinones said.

“When that space re-opens, it is going to be almost like a store experience for our guests where volunteers assist them,” she continued. “Guests can find

clothes that fit their style instead of us assuming what they want to wear.”

Collier, a theater and performance major, volunteered in the Clothing Department, where she sorted and organized clothes for the guests to choose from.

“I felt that it was my job as a citizen in America to give back to the community,” Collier said.

Quinones hopes to expand the volunteer capacity at St. Francis and implement more community service opportunities. She is passionate about helping those who are unhoused and providing people with the individualized support they need.

“Volunteer services at St. Francis House really exist in a way to support and uplift the various volunteer locations we have throughout our day shelter,” Quinones said.

Collier emphasized the importance of the volunteer program at the shelter, and the services that give guests an outlet and a distraction from everything that goes on during their day.

“It just provides [the guests] with the necessities they need to just go on throughout the day or the week,” Collier said. “I got such an enriching experience out of it and learned so much from the people around me and the hard work that they do, so I would definitely help out again.”.

While volunteering, Quinones emphasized the importance of treating guests with dignity. “[St. Francis House] acts as a space of refuge for those who are not only unhoused or experiencing homelessness, but also those who are low income or are in need of any of the services we offer,” Quinones said.

Danita Clark, a St. Francis House guest since 2000, said she visits the Expressive Therapy Department periodically. Clark is also involved with Boston Common Art, a weekly program offered by Common Cathedral, providing a space for unhoused people to foster their artistic skills during gatherings at Emmanuel Church on Newbury Street.

Clark got a bachelor’s degree in architecture in Texas, and specializes in art involving buildings. With support from her peers, Clark was able to succeed in her classes and develop her drawing skills. Now, she enjoys cultivating new ideas with the flexible hours St. Francis House offers.

“I had to work hard to improve and keep up with the other students,” Clark said. “I was good at math and English.

[Now,] I have a lot of ideas to bring into play.”

Another Expressive Therapy guest, Wedel Michael Tuquabo, has been visiting St. Francis House for approximately four months.

He said he particularly enjoys drawing and coloring but tries to do everything. Tuquabo’s focus and dedication prompts him to work on his art for up to three hours at a time. Much of his current work is Halloween-themed, which the shelter plans to use as Halloween decor.

“When I start, I have to finish,” Tuquabo said Quinones and Domek enjoy helping others serve in their community, and support St. Francis House’s mission to provide for those in need of their services.

“I just really want to emphasize that St. Francis House is a very welcoming space,” Domek said. “It’s not something to turn away from, it’s something to turn towards.”

Domek sees the importance of volunteering on a local level, as it has a ripple effect in the larger community.

“A lot of issues I care about are so big and global,” Domek said. “I can never make an impact on them. So starting at the local, community-level, you really see that change immediately and you’re really impacting people.”

Domek plans to host another St. Francis House volunteering event for next year’s orientation, while also working to host a similar event in cooperation with Emerson College Best Buddies—a club that works to support members of the Intellectual and Developmental Disability community— during this school year. maeve_lawler@emerson.edu

The Jonas Brothers blew up Fenway Park Shannon Garrido Beacon Staff

You don’t have to be a 12-yearold girl with the pitch of a hyena to be a Jonas Brothers fan, some of us are 19-year-old girls and our voices resemble the screams of a castrated goat.

The Jonas Brothers’ Friday show at Fenway Park, a stop on their “Remember This” tour, was filled with nostalgic anthems and popular songs from their solo careers.

The night kicked off with their opening act, Kelsea Ballerini, an American country pop singer-songwriter. Although not many people in the crowd seemed to know who she was at first, Ballerini did a great job entertaining the audience and making her music interactive. She was dressed head to toe in a blue sequin bodysuit that matched a bright blue eyeshadow, which looked fabulous on the monitor.

Although Ballerini is a stellar performer with a beautiful voice, I would argue that her music is much too somber for a crowd of over-caffeinated young people ready to rip our hair out at the sight of Nick Jonas.

After her set came to a close, middle-aged mothers, millennials in Camp Rock t-shirts, and college students that can’t let go of

They put on great performances of new songs, “Only Human” and “What A Man Gotta Do” that got the crowd to bob their heads, but thankfully they didn’t waste too much time before giving us what we came for.

As soon as the crowd heard the iconic electric guitar strum of their hit single “Burnin’ Up” on the speakers, it was like a thousand helium tanks burst in my eardrums. The crowd knew every word and as we screamed it to the top of our lungs, Kevin’s guitar solo gave me heartburn.

Their rendition of “Sweet Caroline” to a bunch of screeching Irish American Bostonians and a setlist filled with oldies but goodies like “S.O.S.” and ‘’Lovebug” made it clear that the Jonas Brothers know how to please their audience. It seems they are among a handful of former Disney stars like Miley Cyrus and Raven Symoné that have embraced those years and continued to pay homage to the songs that made them famous in the first place.

The show was relatively short–– lasting about 90 minutes––but was filled with iconic moments.

Nick’s drum solo before singing two of his hit songs, “Close” and “Levels,” from his solo years was one of those moments. Anyone who spent a concerning amount of time online in 2008 remembers hearing that he has been playing

The Jonas Brothers performed at Fenway Park on Friday night / Courtesy

their childhoods came together for the Jo Bros. We started listening to the Jo Bros in granny panties and now, a decade later, we want to throw our lace thongs at them.

Once our three musketeers made their way to the stage, I lost my mind along with the rest of the crowd. It was like running into your childhood best friend and remembering how good you had it back then.

Nick was wearing an all white getup that, in my opinion, paid homage to his purity ring years.

Joe was wearing the most colorful outfit because he needed to remind the audience that he was the main love interest in both Camp Rock 1 and 2, while Kevin looked incredible in a black suit, t-shirt, and vans—staying true to being ‘the funny one.’

It should be stated that there was no Kevin slander during any of his performances, in fact I would argue that he in many ways stole the show, despite being a Republican.

They opened with a single from their new album, “Happiness Begins,” and it was clear right away, by a lack of enthusiasm, that although we bought tickets for their new music, we were there for our childhood sweethearts.

the drums since he was three years old.

The moment Joe performed “Cake by the Ocean ‘’ and “Toothbrush” from his time in the band DNCE, it sent me on a 2016 fever dream. I want Joe to eat my cake by the ocean. Better yet was the moment the crowd realized that although they were playing songs from their solo careers, the other members chimed in as backup anyway.

But, it was their gut-wrenching performance of “When You Look Me In The Eyes’’ that brought an embarrassing tear to my eye.

During this song, a young woman on the stadium monitor was filmed with a message on her phone that read “My childhood dreams are coming true,” perfectly encapsulating the energy the Jonas Brothers brought to Fenway Park.

They ended their performance with two of their most popular songs, “Year 3000” and “Sucker,” which sent the crowd home feeling overwhelmed and wanting another 90 minutes of Kevin discreetly stripping away pieces of clothing. shannon_garrido@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

Sports

October 7, 2021

8

Women’s volleyball team defeated in 2019 finals rematch Tyler Foy

Beacon Staff Babson College snapped the women’s volleyball team’s 14-game home win streak with a 3-1 victory in a rematch of the 2019 New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference finals.

The Beavers entered the match as a nationally ranked team with a record of 13-1, while the Lions were coming off a loss to Coast Guard. Despite the loss, the team had proved unbeatable at home, with a 6-0 record on their home floor in the Bobbi Brown and Steven Plofker Gym. The atmosphere in the stands helped keep the energy high for the Lions.

“It was so fun,” first-year pin hitter Amelia Combs said. “The crowd got into it, we got into it, and [the crowd] helped us stay positive even if we were struggling.”

Despite the team’s history, the past was put behind them after a year without volleyball.

“I don’t think we even looked at it because it’s been a couple of years,” head coach Ben Read said after the game.

“Half our starters didn’t even play in that game and at the time I’m not even sure some of [the players] were considering Emerson College so it’s a very different team.”

While the Lions and Beavers rosters changed over the course of their extended offseason, the level of play from Babson has stayed constant. Combs said the team stepped up their preparation ahead of the matchup. “[We] worked hard in practice and we watched video,” Combs said in a postgame interview. “I feel like we were very prepared and they’re a very consistent team so that’s what they show.

The Beavers showed their prowess when they quickly took the first two points in the first set. First-year middle blocker Brooke Maynez would score the first points of the day for the Lions on a kill.

The first set remained close and saw

the Beavers and the Lions exchanging points, but Babson kept their lead despite Emerson’s best efforts. The Lions lost the first set 25-22 and faced a onepoint deficit for the majority of the set.

The deficit could be pinned on the tough refereeing against the Lions, though Read said it didn’t play a major role in the defeat.

“I do think that we were a little cleaner on our side and depending on the referee we might have got a couple of calls,” he said. “It might have made some of the sets a little closer, but it didn’t [have an] impact.”

The consistent Babson Beavers started the second set by securing the first three points. Maynez was once again responsible for the Lions’ first point of the set making the score 3-1. The Lions pulled within one point again at 5-4 but it didn’t get any easier for them as the Beavers continued to add on and went on a scoring spree eventually making the score 12-5. Read said the Beavers blocking ability gave them problems.

“The size of their block was one thing,” Read said. “[Babson] was a big team. We’ve seen some big teams, they’re right up there near the top.”

Emerson called a timeout and returned with a five-point streak of their own making the score 12-10. This would be the closest Emerson got to taking the lead for the rest of the second set. The Beavers jumped out to a 17-11 lead before the Lions would call their next timeout. After the timeout, Babson continued to score, eventually taking the second set 25-16.

Following a dominant second set from the Beavers, the Lions looked to change up their game plan. Read said the team had been doing it all game up to this point.

“We changed the lineup,” Read said. “[Isabella Chu] got to swing on the outside and we moved Parker [Cummings] on the right to switch things up. We switched our defense...but honestly, the service pressure helped us in [the third set].”

Babson would open up the third set with a 4-1 lead but the Lions answered

A women’s volleyball game. Sydney Ciardi / Beacon Correspondent

back with four points, taking a 5-4 lead. Sophomore libero Caroline Davis scored two aces in this small streak, a part of her game that she said shined after the game.

Babson wasn’t going to let the Lions run away with the game though and after exchanging the lead twice, the Beavers called a timeout with the Lions up 9-8. Emerson followed this timeout by scoring six points in the next seven plays, making the score 10-17. Cummings, a first-year outside hitter, and Combs found a rhythm in the third set.

“I just found the open court and the sets were there and I hit it and it just worked out,” Combs said.

Despite three consecutive points from the Beavers, the Lions stayed positive on the court and answered back with four of their own. First-year outside hitter Chu also found success in the third set. She said that the setters were extremely helpful in creating chances.

“I was really connecting really well with the setters and everybody was re-

ally supportive on the floor,” Chu said after the game.

First-year setter Rachel Scott put up 11 assists in the third set and had 22 assists at the end of the match. The Beavers would attempt to crawl back into the match but the Lions finished out the third set on a kill from Junior middle blocker Logan Steenbergen. The Lions won set three 25-19.

Unfortunately for the Lions, this would be the only set they would be able to take.

The 4th set once again started with Babson taking the first point. The Beavers jumped out to a massive lead and the Lions looked completely overmatched. Babson had a double digit lead after going up 16-6 and never dropped below it. On game point, the Lions scored three consecutive points but it wasn’t enough—Babson took the 4th set and the match 25-13.

“They had a big block up there and we just needed to go faster on the pins,” Read said. “It was too little, too late,

making the change for us.”

Moving forward from the tough loss against Babson, Combs said the team wants to take their positive mentality into their next match.

“Definitely the energy and just keep building on like what we’ve already improved on,” she said.

The women’s volleyball team’s next match will be on Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. against Wentworth College at home. Read said the non-conference game could help the team get back on track in the tough NEWMAC. “There are multiple teams that have been nationally ranked [in NEWMAC],” Read said, “We’ve got a really good conference and we’re also really good we’re just coming up a little short against some teams so we’ll give ourselves a couple of days practice. We got some non-conference games coming up before we started back up.” tyler_foy@emerson.edu

Series pits division rivals against one another Cont. from Pg. 1 Starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is set to take the bump for game one of the series. In his last start against the Rays he pitched six shutout innings and the Sox went on to win the game 4-0. Unfortunately for Sox fans, the chances of that happening again are slim.

Rodriguez has struggled all season, with his ERA ballooning to nearly five—by far the worst season of his career. “E-Rod” as he is affectionately known does have postseason experience, as he was on the 2018 championship team.

The Sox need to face the Tampa Bay Rays pitching factory—the team has a 3.67 ERA—and meet them with the World Series contending offense that has been displayed in the past. The Sox scored 20 runs against the Rays in August.

Once the games get to Fenway, the Rays will be faced with the tough opposing atmosphere of post-season baseball in Boston.

There is something special about that Boston crowd and as a person who has been at Fenway during the World Series, I speak from experience. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that it was spectacular and thanked fans for cultivating the exciting environment.

Tyler Foy (left) and Camilo Fonseca (right). Charlie McKenna / Beacon Staff

Although it is a tough series, I think the Red Sox will take game two if Sale is on the bump and once it gets to Boston, it’s gonna go up from there. Boston needs to take one in Tampa and if they do, the Red Sox will advance to the American League Championship Series in four games—upsetting the previous pennant winners.

Tampa Bay Rays in four Camilo Fonseca If you had asked any baseball analyst at the start of the season whether the Rays could measure up to their record last year—champions of the American League and World Series runner-ups—nine out of ten would probably have said no.

There were already signs of offensive struggles last October, and over the offseason, the team said goodbye to two-thirds of its pitching core (including 2018 Cy Young winner Blake Snell) in the offseason. So how come they’re here six months later, vying for their first trophy?

The answer is deceptively simple—the Rays are astonishingly, almost unfailingly flexible. That’s what they have leveraged to get here, and what they will need to leverage to get past the Red Sox. Even with the loss of its threeman starting rotation, the team has managed to cobble together a surprisingly versatile team of rookie starters and veteran relievers. The Two Shanes (McClanahan, 24, and Baz, 22), along with Drew Rasmussen, have all posted consistently promising numbers. They’re backed up by arguably the most seasoned bullpen in baseball, shuttled up and down from the minors to increase playing time over the regular season.

If the Rays’ rotation is flexible, then the team’s lineup is positively gymnastic. The entire roster is made up of countless variations, and virtually every position, from first base to designated hitter, can be “platooned” as needed. Even

though the Rays have no real household names aside from shortstop sensation Wander Franco— who has been the team’s breakout hitter while still being under the legal drinking age—this arrangement makes it so they don’t need any superstars to win.

I take comfort in the fact that the Rays have the slight advantage over the Red Sox in the regular season series (11-8). Nevertheless, the matchup certainly won’t be easy, especially if Boston’s offense is firing on all cylinders. And if the Sox’s bullpen is decent—or at least, better than the travesty that it was for most of the season—it will be a struggle.

But I still rate Tampa’s versatility over Boston’s slugging. At the end of the day, I rate Brett Phillips over Alex Verdugo, Kevin Cash over Alex Cora, and the stingray tank at the Trop over the Green Monster at Fenway.

Maybe that’s wishful thinking, but if I’ve learned anything from the Rays in the past few years, they are always more than what meets the eye. Rays in four.

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