SEAL Director set to take position at Harvard

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Marcus Cocova / Beacon Correspondent Police take most wanted suspect into custody at Rotch field

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“The determination was made to end peaceful communications and bring him in,” he added.

After withdrawing the negotiators and BEST clinicians, SWAT personnel deployed a series of “distractionary devices” such as fashbangs, while fring “less-lethal” rounds at the suspect. Fields dropped his loaded frearm and was taken into custody; at 5:12 p.m., Boston police wrote on Twitter that the suspect had been apprehended.

Emerson sent its third and fnal “all clear” message at 6:03 p.m., while stating that Rotch Field would remain closed while offcers processed the scene. Police departed the scene around 7:00 p.m., according to Watson.

“When somebody has a frearm in their hand and nobody gets seriously injured, it’s a win,” said Acting Boston Police Commissioner Gregory Long in a press conference on the scene.

No Emerson athletic teams were present at Rotch Field at the beginning of the standoff. The women’s soccer team had practice cancelled as a result of the police presence at the site, according to one team member; the men’s team, having played a match at Regis University on Monday, was not scheduled for practice on Tuesday, according to head coach Daniel Toulson, while Women’s soccer coach David Suvak could not immediately be reached for comment.

However, one student was reported to have been practicing lacrosse on the feld when Fields arrived Tuesday morning—jumping the fence to escape.

Fields was released into the care of medical professionals to be treated for “non-life-threatening injuries,” as well as psychological evaluation. Watson said Fields would be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on Wednesday. At his arraignment, Fields was ordered held without bail and committed to Bridgewater State Hospital for a competency evaluation. If found competent, he will face a dangerousness hearing, court documents show.

In an interview with the Boston Globe, Fields’ sister said her brother suffers from mental health issues, and has been homeless for several years.

camilo_fonseca@emerson.edu

SEAL Director Jason Meier to leave college in November

Bailey Allen Beacon Staff

Director of Student Engagement and Leadership Jason Meier will leave Emerson in November to take up a position at Harvard College after nearly a decade at the college.

Meier announced his departure in a Tuesday afternoon email to student organization leaders on campus. He is set to depart Emerson on Nov. 19 and will take up the role of Associate Dean of Student Engagement at Harvard College in January.

“My time at Emerson has challenged and stretched what I believed was possible,” Meier wrote. “It’s without any

In his decade at Emerson, Meier worked closely with student organizations and served as the advisor for the Student Government Association for four semesters, beginning in January 2020.

SEAL will delegate new roles and responsibilities over the coming weeks, according to the email. It remains unclear who will replace Meier as head of the department, as the email does not lay out a clear succession plan. Meier wrote that he will work with Program Coordinators Chelsea Jackson Jones and Jenna Coviello as well as Director of Campus Centers Joshua Hamlin to aid in the transition.

Meier’s announcement marks the latest in a series of high-level departures at

Emerson, after former President M. Lee Pelton left the college to head the Boston Foundation. Since then, other administrators—such as former Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion Sylvia Spears and Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs Michaele Whelan—have either left or announced their intentions to leave the college.

SEAL Director Jason Meier. / Beacon Archives

hyperbole that I can say we have truly built something special together. And while I’m grateful for it, it’s time for me to continue my own journey.”

Meier started at the college in 2011 as director of the Student Activities Offce, after having held similar positions at Louisiana State University and the University of Alabama Birmingham. Under his tenure, the offce was reimagined as SEAL in 2017. bailey_allen@emerson.edu

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e Berkeley Beacon October 21, 2021 3 Antisemitic graffiti sparks outcry

Hongyu Liu / Beacon Staff

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Meltzer said that though she appreciates what the college is doing, the fight against antisemitism needs to be “pushed even more.”

“We asked the college to actually push [the community gathering] so it [wasn’t] just attended by Jewish students, but by people who need to hear this and need to learn about what’s happening with antisemitism.”

In a campus-wide email announcing Tuesday night’s community gathering, the Rev. Julie Avis Rogers, Emerson’s director of religious and spiritual life, said that while the community heals, she hopes to see people raise each other up as we move forward.

“As we do this work of mending, particularly from acts of antisemitism, I hope those who are hurting today can be supported through coming together,” wrote Avis Rogers.

The gathering, held in Little Building 227, drew over 50 community members on Tuesday night—Jews and non-Jews alike. Avis-Rogers and Hillel members led the group of attendees through a sober ceremony of songs, candle-lighting, and traditional Jewish songs.

“On days like these, I oftentimes find it very helpful to remind myself that there is absolutely no right way or wrong way to be feeling right now,” Avis-Rogers said during the event. “A gathering like this is exactly a time to check in with ourselves—to not only show our support for our friends and our community, [but also] to honor whatever feelings, whatever fears, whatever numbness might be arriving to you today.”

Hillel members led the group in song as one student strummed her guitar to the melody of a nigun—a wordless religious tune.

With the words “Olam Chesed Yibaneh”—or “We Will Build This World From Love”—reverberating throughout the room, the crowd moved into a candle lighting ceremony, a chance for attendees to pay homage to those victims of antisemitism that came before them.

“I want to put this down for my ancestors and all of our ancestors,” one attendee said. “We’ve been through a ton of shit and I’m so done!”

Those who took part in the candle-lighting ceremony did not disclose their identities while speaking to the group, with many sharing their experiences being Jewish on campus, and some even saying they were afraid to share their identity.

“[I want to be able to] walk around in my Hillel shirt and not look over my shoulder when I’m walking to Walker [Building],” an anonymous first year student said. “I’m so happy that I found Hillel but there are certain days where I’m so scared.”

A chorus of snaps, claps, and other supportive outbursts followed each candle lighting and brief speech, with some using the opportunity to speak indirectly to Vice President and Dean for Campus Life Jim Hoppe, the only administrator in attendance.

“I’m putting this one forward for hope and action,” one student said while lighting their candle. “Whether that means allies getting educated or [administration] finally taking notice of the Jewish issues that we’ve been bringing up to them for semester after semester.”

Many brought forth demands for change surrounding the college’s treatment of Jewish students, particularly highlighting its neglect in recognizing Jewish holidays. While the 2021-22 academic year began just a week before the start of Rosh Hashanah, Jewish students were generally provided few opportunities to observe or celebrate.

The lack of recognition for the religious holidays spreads across other Boston schools as well, with Northeastern, Boston University, Berklee College of Music, Suffolk and others not providing students time off.

A similar incident of vandalism occurred at Northeastern University this weekend, when a mezuzah—a small box with a piece of parchment inside containing the words of a traditional jewish prayer—was ripped off of the university’s Hillel House.

Sydney Cohen, Hillel’s multimedia chair, expressed regret that Tuesday night’s gathering had to happen in the first place, apologizing for the fear students were feeling on campus.

“I wish I could have met your faces under different circumstances,” Cohen said. “I’m sorry that you feel unsafe on campus. I’m sorry that this school doesn’t take action, I can’t promise that they’re gonna take action. But when you do things like this... [those in administration] begin to hear you.”

“I’m not saying that it’s going to work, but you keep on pushing there may be a change,” she continued. “I’m really hoping there will be because [it’s very] depressing and sad to go through this stuff. Especially when it’s over and over again.”

Camilo Fonseca contributed reporting. Deputy enterpirse editor Bailey Allen did not edit this story due to a conflict of interest.

of the protection afforded by vaccines, even “breakthrough cases” are resulting in significantly lower mortality rates.

“The most important thing is to vaccinate the unvaccinated—that’s just a fact,” he said. “You get the most bang for your buck in that primary vaccination series; you’re still decreasing cases, even though it’s not a perfect vaccine, by about two thirds.”

For communities like Emerson, which is approximately 96 percent vaccinated, Ellerin said that rolling back restrictions isn’t necessarily inadvisable—given that they are carefully considered.

“I can’t be too critical of [college restrictions], given that winter is coming,” he said. “But I do think I might adjust [them] at some point soon. These are the things that need to be discussed.”

frankie_rowley@emerson.edu COVID cases fall as variant threat looms

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“It does not seem like the city is going to remove [the mask ordinance] anytime soon,” he said. “We certainly would not [remove the mandate] too quickly. We know it’s an inconvenience for some, we know some folks are done with masks, but it is important and one of the easiest mechanisms to help keep the community safe.”

The decline in positive tests at Emerson is a trend visible nationwide, with the seven-day average of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. reaching under 100,000. Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, stated on an Oct. 3 segment of ABC’s This Week that the country was finally “turning the corner” on the latest surge brought on by the Delta variant.

“It’s dropping significantly in the country, for sure,” said Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious diseases at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. “The seven-day average [right now] is 79,000; we were at an average of 160,000 [a day] at one point with the peak in the summer.”

Ellerin said that the decline does not necessarily indicate the end of the pandemic.

“It’s declined from its peak, but it’s sort of waffling,” he said in an interview with The Beacon. “We’re still seeing cases going up and down.”

Even as the national numbers decline, Massachusetts continues to suffer from the fall wave. Since Oct. 14, the Commonwealth has reported 9,130 new cases and 91 deaths. Those numbers—which average out to 1,304 cases per day— are still reaching benchmarks; the 25 deaths reported on Oct. 19 were the most for a single day since April 5.

“Massachusetts has done very well in this wave, but we are still at a seven day average of 1400,” Ellerin said. “We’re down [relative to the worst of the pandemic] but we still have a lot of cases.”

Though colleges like Emerson are experiencing fewer cases among largely-vaccinated community members, Ellerin warned against prematurely rolling back campus restrictions—particularly in light of an approaching winter that promises much uncertainty.

“It’s not clear that this will be the worst COVID winter that we’ve seen—there are a lot of factors,” he said. “I do think this is going to be a very challenging winter overall.”

Even as the pandemic recedes from the public consciousness, Ellerin warned that COVID-19 could—and likely would—become either endemic, like the common cold, or seasonal, like the flu.

“Other coronaviruses have a

Students outside of the Lion’s Den. / Beacon Archives

Beacon Archives true seasonality, where they’re seen mostly in the winter,” Ellerin said, referring to the broader family of viruses. “That’s not true of COVID-19 yet. But remember, we’ve only been at this for not even two years. We have to see what the background immunity is, when enough people get infected over time.”

“I don’t see this disappearing,” he added. “[COVID] just disappearing like SARS-1 today is very unlikely to me. Number one, it’s easily transmissible. And there are variants generated, obviously.”

Even with high levels of vaccination in Massachusetts, Ellerin said that the winter would be complicated by the presence of constantly-mutating variants, such as Delta and the newly-emerged “Delta Plus.”

However, Ellerin also noted that the inoculation of nearly 10 million Massachusetts residents has widened the gap between case numbers and fatalities; because contact@berkeleybeacon.com