Emerson requires boosters, Omicron sparks fear

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

Thursday, December 9, 2021 • Volume 75, Issue 14

@berkeleybeacon // @beaconupdate

Emerson to require COVID-19 booster shots

Administrators say Omicron detection part of decision-making process for booster mandate Vivi Smilgius Beacon Staff

Emerson will require all community members to receive a COVID-19 booster shot prior to the spring semester amid a drastic rise in COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts following the Thanksgiving holiday, college officials announced Wednesday.

The decision follows a rise in

COVID-19 cases and the detection of the Omicron variant in Massachusetts, renewing concerns about “breakthrough cases” infecting vaccinated individuals.

On Wednesday, the state reported 5,403 new cases of the virus, 12 deaths, and 1,204 hospitalizations. Those figures represent the highest statewide totals since last winter—when almost none of the state’s residents had received a single dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

In light of the ever-changing landscape of the pandemic, Associate Vice President for Campus Life Erik Muurisepp, who serves as Emerson’s “COVID Lead,” said the college will continue to follow the guidance of medical professionals as new information is released.

He also said the detection of the Omicron variant in the state on Saturday

“certainly helped” college officials reach the decision to require boosters.

“We’ve seen and we know the benefit of the vaccines,” Muurisepp said. “With a 97 percent vaccination rate on campus, we knew the booster would only help, and we really felt it was important to not just strongly recommend but to require the booster to help keep the community safe.”

The mandate extends to students, faculty, and staff on the Boston campus as well as Emerson’s Los Angeles and Kasteel Well campuses.

Emerson joins the University of Massachusetts Amherst in requiring boosters, as other schools around the area have yet to announce decisions despite requiring vaccination ahead of the fall semester.

Requirements, Pg. 3

Light dusting of snow coats downtown Boston

A vaccination clinic. Alec Klusza / Beacon Archives

Expert says Omicron has global spreader potential Vivi Smilgius & Bailey Allen Beacon Staff

Pg. 2 Beacon Staff

WLP professor honored for essay collection Margarita Ivanova

‘Guy’s Kitchen and Bar’ expands flavortown in Beantown Camilo Fonseca Beacon Staff

Beacon Staff

Passersby on Tremont Street Wednesday afternoon saw a dining Writing, literature and publishing pro- room bustling with anticipation, as fessor Jerald Walker brought home the staff members assembled chairs, this year for his essay collection entitled the frieze a wallpaper reading simHow to Make a Slave and Other Essays. ply: FLAVORTOWN. The book, which was also a National a series of Walker’s essays written over a period of 16 years. He discusses a diverse range of topics, ranging from his childhood, to parenthood, to thought provoking conversations like the legacy of Michael Jackson, which are shaped by his experience and education.

The book’s featured themes stem from one common question: “What is it like being an African American living in today’s society?” writing, he initially wrote essays and short stories that painted African Americans as societal victims, and only focussed on the negative attributes of white people, rather than the positive attributes of Black people.

Award, Pg. 7

Massachusetts reported its first case of the Omicron COVID-19 variant on Saturday, renewing concerns about the spread of the virus just days before the end of the fall term.

Genetic sequencing identified the variant—which was discovered in South Africa on Nov. 22, and labeled a variant of concern by the World Health Organization on Nov. 26—in a Middlesex County resident. The fully-vaccinated female in her 20s had recently traveled out of state, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The news comes as cases surge in the state, reaching levels not seen since last winter; on Wednesday alone, Massachusetts reported 5,403 positives and 12 deaths.

In response, Emerson will require all students, faculty, staff and vendors to obtain a booster vaccination shot before returning to campus after winter break, according to a Wednesday afternoon campus-wide email from Associate Vice President for Campus Life and “COVID Lead” Erik Muurisepp Wednesday.

“We should be concerned, we shouldn’t panic,” Muurisepp said in an interview with The Beacon.

“There’s still so many unknowns, unfortunately, because [Omicron] is still so relatively new. We’re taking it day by day.”

The decision to require boosters falls in line with the viewpoint of Dr. Todd Ellerin, director of infectious diseases at South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. Ellerin said his concern is the development of Omicron’s mutational patterns, which might be similar to some of the “all-star” mutations in the variants that preceded it.

Variant, Pg. 3 3

The famous slogan of restaurateur Guy Fieri will adorn the Tremont Street establishment when it opens to the public on Thursday. According to General Manager Marc Berkowitz, Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen & Bar occupies the ideal location to cater to theatregoers, tourists, and local residents alike—as well as college students from schools like Emerson.

heard about [the new restaurant] was the connection with Emerson,” said Berkowthe community.”

The opening comes after months of renovations to the space at 186 Tremont St., formerly occupied by Explorateur Cafe.

Eatery, Pg. 3

INSIDE THIS EDITION

Analysis: turnover following presidential departures Pg. 2 Voting protections set to expire statewide Pg. 3 Opinion: Shane Dawson finally canceled himself Pg. 4 Opinion: We love “Twilight” because it’s ridiculous Pg. 5 Jane Lynch Christmas show comes to Boston Pg. 6

111

positive COVID-19 tests

.15%

positivity rate

71,667+ tests completed

News

The Berkeley Beacon

December 9, 2021

2

Presidential departures, past and present, spur turnover Frankie Rowley Beacon Staff

Since the departure of former President M. Lee Pelton, Emerson has seen a number of key individuals cut their ties with the college—many of them amicably, others less so. The string of exits have raised questions over the rate of turnover Of the nine individuals who have left the Emerson community since Pelton’s departure in June, three were administrators, three were faculty members, and three were staff. Various rationales were given for the departures, including several individuals who took more prominent positions elsewhere.

Chief among those departures was Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Michaele Whelan, who departed the college on Sept. 9. to take over the presidency at Wheaton College. Whelan was instrumental in expanding the college’s curriculum, overseeing the implementation of numerous new majors and academic programs.

Well before Whelan’s departure, Sylvia Spears, former vice president for diversity and inclusion, became

ANALYSIS

balloon to nine to announce her departure. Spears left her role at the college in May to become the vice president for administration & innovation and distinguished professor of educational equity and social justice at College Unbound in Rhode Island.

Following Spears, former WERS general manager Jack Casey, announced he would be leaving his role at the college’s radio station, but staying at Emerson as a member of the faculty for the fall semester.

After these announcements in May, departures stopped until former Associate Director of Emerson’s Healing

and Advocacy Collective Greta Spoering announced she would be leaving the college in July—prompting the start of a next wave of resignations in the following months.

Spoering’s departure was the quickest and most vague, with Spoering parture but an assurance that she would continue her work against power-based interpersonal violence “beyond the Emerson community.” She announced her departure on July 14 and left a mere nine days after the announcement, leaving those outside of her inner circle grasping at straws as to why she left.

The only departure following Pelton’s that was clearly acrimonious was that of former Senior Journalist-in-Residence Cheryl Owsley-Jackson, who announced that she would be returning to her alma mater Indiana University following “less rewarding” experiences at Emerson. Owsley-Jackson announced her departure just under a week after Spoering’s announcement.

“To those perpetuating the decades-long culture of bullying and control, you know who you are, I hope you Owsley-Jackson in a July Instagram post announcing that she would be taking up the role of visiting lecturer at the Media School. “From me to you.”

Owsley-Jackson was the only departing faculty member to explicitly cite issues with members of the college in their leaving. However, with nine departures following Pelton’s—some for seemingly impromptu or vague reasons—there is the possibility that she was not the only person to leave under tense circumstances.

Following Owsley-Jackson’s departure, the remaining resignations came from Jason Meier, Ryan Milligan, and Whelan.

Milligan came to Emerson in January 2020 and left a mere year and eight months later in August 2021 after serv-

ing as acting Title IX coordinator. He olution specialist at Phillips Academy.

Meier, the former director of student engagement and leadership, left Emerson after a decade to move across the Charles River, becoming the Associate Dean of Student Engagement at Harvard College. In an interview with The Beacon, Meier stated that his move was another step in his professional journey.

“At some point in everyone’s personal and professional journey, you have to jump, to take the next risk,” Meier said.

Like Meier and Milligan, Whelan also took a natural step in her career with her departure from the college.

Interim President Bill 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 told The Beacon in September. “It’s a naturally occurring phenomenon.”

While Pelton’s resignation saw nine departures, Liebergott’s in 2011 resulted in more faculty and staff departures than administrative resignations. Only two of the six departures from Emerson after Liebergott were members of the administration: Gwendolyn Bates and Grafton Nunes.

Nunes, the former dean of Emerto announce his departure from the college to become president of the Cleveland Institute of Art. Nunes’s departure mirrors Whelan’s in that he took a higher position elsewhere in departing.

“I will miss the Emerson culture and my talented colleagues, but I look forward to the challenges and oppor-

tunities that await me at the Cleveland Institute of Art,” Nunes said to Emerson Today.

After four years at Emerson, Bates, the former associate vice president for diversity and inclusion, announced that she was leaving the college in September 2011 to retire.

“Have I done everything I want to do? No,” she told The Beacon in 2011.

“But I am proud of the things that I have been able to accomplish.”

The remaining four departures after Liebergott’s resignation were a mix of faculty and staff members, with former head tennis coach John Nestel being Nestel announced a week following Bates that he would be resigning from his role after he alleged that his predecessor participated in “lineup stacking”—intentionally positioning better players in lesser roles in order to gain points.

His resignation was the most heated of resignations following Liebergott’s leaving, with the accusations being proven untrue in the months following.

Following the September resignations, the departures ceased for a few months until December, when former Emerson College Police Department failing to report the inappropriate web the end of the 2011 resignations, ushering in a new wave in 2012.

In 2012, former Athletic Director nation of the year. Parnell announced her departure in May, citing perusal of other professional opportunities as her reason for leaving after nearly 15 years at Emerson.

Former Dean of the School of Communication Janis Andersen resigned from her role in September 2012, stating that she had no intentions of continuing her role as dean after complet-

Along with Andersen, former Chair of the Journalism Department Ted Gup announced he would be taking a year away from the college to pursue a fellowship, leaving his role as chair— only to return to the faculty in 2013, where he has stayed to this day.

“I will not be returning as chair but rather as a member of the faculty, that has always been where my allegiance lies,” Gup wrote in a 2012 email to The Beacon. four months after the college became aware of his frequent use of inappropriate websites while working—with the evidence given by the college alluding to not safe for work sites being found on a computer he had used and not logged out of.

The biggest factor present in both series of departures tends to be issues between the college and its staff.

Owsley-Jackson’s “less rewarding” experiences report hinted at members of the community perpetuating a less-than-positive environment, riddled with bullying and unprofessional behaviors.

Most of the departures, however, were attributed to normal career progressions, as employees who left Emerson took more advanced or innovative positions than the ones they held at Emerson.

Whether the departure of a president provides an avenue to pursue other career paths or an avenue to escape the toxic environments present within the college, a surge in employee departure following a presidential departure does not appear to be out of the ordinary at Emerson. That fact raises questions regarding the college’s work environment. frankie_rowley@emerson.edu

Beacon Staff Beacon Staff

First snow of season brings students end-ofsemester joy Bailey Allen Beacon Staff

Starting around 9 p.m. Wednesday night, a thin blanket of snow dusted Boston Common, prompting Emerson students to venture outside and experience the first real snow of the season.

Bundled up in winter coats, beanies, and scarves, students flocked to the streets—many playing songs such as “The Christmas Song” and “Jingle Bell Rock” aloud on their cellphones. Boston residents and Emerson students—

including first-years Ellie McCabe and Emma Paiva—took selfies with snow-covered grass in the background.

According to National Weather Service Boston, the city will see about 0.7 inches of snow accumulate through Wednesday night and early Thursday morning. Snow is expected to stop falling around 4 a.m. Thursday morning.

“Emma showed up at our door dressed up in her snow stuff and was like, ‘We’re going out to see the snow,’” said McCabe, a writing, literature and publishing ma-

jor. “I was a little reluctant because I was already in my bed, but here we are.”

Although Paiva, a business of creative enterprises major, is from Connecticut, where it frequently snows, she said she appreciated seeing it snow in Boston.

“It’s exciting,” Paiva said. “Everything’s really pretty here. Prettier than Connecticut.”

For some first-year students like Avah Reed and Luis Salazar, Wednesday night marked their first time living in a location where it snows. They appreciated the spectacle.

“This is my first time seeing snowfall because I’m from Florida,” Reed said. “Everyone’s saying that it’s bad snow, but I think it’s really cool.”

“I’m from Miami,” Salazar said. “I’ve seen snow before, but it’s nice to finally live somewhere where it snows.”

First-year visual and media arts

major Eitan Ehrlich was in an EIV screenwriting workshop when he looked out the window and noticed the exciting new weather.

“I was looking at the Guy Fieri sign…and I saw that there was snow in front of it,” Ehrlich said.

“I couldn’t focus for the rest of the workshop because I wanted to go into the snow.”

Lennon Mapes, also a first-year visual and media arts major, was in the Little Building when he realized it was snowing outside.

“I was making music with my friends,” Mapes said. “We were just looking out the window for a while. Then at some point, we decided to stop making music and just go outside and that’s when [Ehrlich] contacted me.”

Ehrlich and Mapes said they met up with each other in the lobby of the Little Building after an excited text exchange. Although Ehrlich is from Connecticut and Mapes is from Vermont, two snowy states in the wintertime, they were both

enthralled by the first snowfall of the season.

“We get a lot of snow,” Mapes said. “So it’s pretty usual. But the first one of the season is always so special.”

For many, the snowfall provoked a sense of childlike wonder.

“It’s kind of nostalgic,” Kahlil Leneus, a first-year musical theater major from California, said.

“I lived in China for seven months when I was in the third grade, so seeing it again is bringing back old memories.”

Although most students are in the midst of finals, the snow proved to be a good excuse for Emersonians to take a break from studying and take a walk outside.

“It’s really beautiful to have the first snowfall,” first-year visual and media arts major Caden Lisa said. “Especially since it’s on the earlier side of December. I think it’s really nice.” bailey_allen@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

December 9, 2021

3

Expanded voting protections at risk in Mass.

Justin Chen & Camilo Fonseca Beacon Staff

Several pandemic-era voting reforms in Massachusetts are slated to expire next week after dying on Beacon Hill, bringing an end to a period of increased voter access for many student residents.

A bill to expand voter rights implemented as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic—namely by codifying mail-in balloting, early voting, and same-day registration—was passed by the Massachusetts State Senate on Oct. 6 before stalling in the House. The General Court ended its legislative session last month.

The new legislation, which was implemented temporarily during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, offered Massachusetts voters the option of a mail-in ballot for every election.

Emerson College Political Communication Professor Gregory Payne believes the voting bill is a step in the right direction and encourages more people to participate democratic process. ”While some states are limiting

voting and disenfranchising voters, the Commonwealth is moving in the opposite direction making voting easier for all citizens,” said Payne.

First-year journalism student Abigayle Arsenault thinks it is a good idea to implement the option of earlier voting.

“It is more fair to vote especially if you voted in person, so adding earlier in person voting is definitely better,” said Arsenault.

“It is now time to build on the progress we have already made and make permanent improvements to our elections,” said State Senator Barry Finegold (D-Essex and Middlesex) in a statement to The Beacon.

Under the new law, ballots must be mailed on or by Election Day and received by 5 p.m. three days after the election. State election officials must process mail-in and early in-person voting ballots before election day, altering the previous law that only allowed voters with legitimate reasons to mail in their ballot. Local officials will also be required to install secure ballot drop boxes in municipalities.

For Finegold, the bill “will empower voters and strengthen our democracy,” noting that mail in and early voting were a contributor to increasing voter turnout last year.

As opposed to the previous voting legislation where voters had to register before election day, voters can now register and cast ballots on election day.

“Enacting Election-Day Registration, vote-by-mail, and the jailbased voting provision in this bill removes unnecessary procedural hurdles and makes it easier for everyone—especially young voters, poor voters, and voters of color—to exercise their fundamental rights,” said State Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz (D-Suffolk) in a written response to The Beacon.

The bill was passed by the state senate with 36-3 vote. All Republican senators rejected the legislature. Now, the voting bill heads to the Massachusetts State House.

Charlie McKenna contributed reporting.

contact@berkeleybeacon.com

Officials urge caution amid variant fears

Cont. from Pg. 1

“When you look at the mutational pattern of Omicron and what’s happening in South Africa, the question is, ‘Does that have the potential to happen on a global scale?’” he said. “‘Does this have the potential to be a global spreader?’ And I think the answer is yes.”

Omicron’s emergence comes during the holiday season, while many students plan to travel—something Ellerin says will inevitably lead to a spike in cases.

Though the Biden administration recently reinstituted travel bans on eight southern African countries where the variant cies will “only be partially effective for a limited time period.”

He added that an important part of stopping the global spread of COVID-19 is worldwide vaccine distribution, especially to countries whose citizens have yet to receive their initial doses.

“You have to get vaccines to [undervaccinated countries]… but it’s not just getting vaccines there,” said Ellerin.

“Many of the places don’t have the infrastructure to get the vaccine to the people that need it. It’s complicated.”

Global vaccine disparity creates opportunities for “uncontrolled viral replication,” Ellerin said, driving the rise for nearly 100 percent of US cases and Omicron.

Nevertheless, Ellerin acknowledged the advantages of the human immune system after almost two years of life with COVID-19. Certain studies suggest that Omicron, while more transmissi-

ble, causes milder illness than previous strains—particularly for vaccinated individuals.

“At the same time… in 2021, there’s been more deaths from COVID than in 2020,” he added. ported that a third shot of its COVID-19 vaccine offered robust protection against the variant. The news came a day after a study in South Africa found that the vaccine’s protection in individuals who ened by Omicron.

With winter approaching, Ellerin said it is likely the US will see cases of the Omicron variant intermingled with other strains in the country’s predicted “Delta winter.”

“I don’t think it can be a complete Omicron winter, but it could be a mixture,” he said.

Ellerin also emphasized the importance of increased testing and mask wearing to minimize the spread of the virus throughout the winter. He also said everyone eligible should get a booster shot to retain immunity, and that companies should “develop next-generation vaccines” to get ahead of the virus and its mutations.

“A lot of it is back to basics,” said Ellerin. “What do we need to do? We need to vaccinate more. We need to boost more… We need to mask more, whether it’s Delta, whether it’s Omicron… and we need to develop [vaccines] as rapidly as possible.”

Camilo Fonseca and Frankie Rowley contributed reporting. contact@berkeleybeacon.com

Fieri eatery to open doors Thursday Cont. from Pg. 1 Beacon Archives

New requirements prompted by variant, surge Cont. from Pg. 1 All Emerson community members who received their second dose vaccines more than six months ago are now eligible to receive boosters under state and federal guidelines.

Those who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are eligible two Muurisepp said the college will also require students to test twice within a week of their return to campus in the spring, in an effort to “identify and isolate potential positives” and rebuild the “Emerson bubble” for the new term.

“Knowing the incubation period of the virus and doing multiple tests within a seven-day period really helps identify any potential viruses that may not show up on day one,” he said. “If we do a test on day one and it’s negative, let’s do anothmake sure it’s still negative.”

Emerson will not require students to get tested prior to their return, though Muurisepp recommended it in his college-wide email Wednesday afternoon.

In regards to the spring semester, Muurisepp said while the relatively high number of positive COVID-19 tests Emerson has racked up throughout the fall semester are “unfortunate,” the college remains “well within operational parameters.” He added that the college’s current plans will likely continue

into the spring and does not see a need for new restrictions.

“We know we want to get to a point where we can increase the access to campus for guests and visitors,” he said. “That is a high priority for us. We just need to make sure we’re doing it at the right time and with the right parameters.”

He acknowledged that while he understands students are tired of the restrictions— particularly the college’s mask mandate— they must remain in place for the safety of the Emerson community, adding that the college is following the city of Boston’s lead.

“As long as the city’s indoor mask requirement is still in place, we’re going to keep our masking requirements,” he said.

Muurisepp commended the college’s COVID-19 response thus far, saying the campus has done a “tremendous job.”

“I’d be wrong to not acknowledge how everyone has helped us get to this point and has put in tremendous effort as a community because we’re all tired,” he said. “Folks want things to go back to how they used to be, in terms of not having to test and not having to wear masks and all that, but we have to just stay the course for now.”

As news of the booster requirements spread around campus, students seemed willing to continue doing their part to keep the college safe, either having already gotten a booster shot or having them sched-

uled.

First-year visual and media arts major Bella Pitaniello said she wasn’t able to schedule a booster shot in Boston, but plans to get one as soon as she can.

“I’ve tried and every place is booked for appointments,” she said.

“But I do feel if you’re vaccinated, and it’s been six months, you should get a booster. I’m going to get one when I can.” dia arts major Annie Latka agreed, adding that she worries about getting a booster—especially in time for the spring semester—since getting her initial doses in August.

“I have to wait until January or February to get my booster,” she said. “I’ll probably try to get it in December before we come back so I’m in compliance with the college.” year Herman Hurston felt students should get their boosters as soon as possible, commending the college’s decision to require boosters.

“I don’t see why anyone would be complaining besides small things like [allergies to the vaccine],” Hurston said. “I respect Emerson’s deway to protect their students with their requirements.”

Frankie Rowley contributed reporting.

vivi_smiligus@emerson.edu

to open in Summer 2020, but opening plans were quickly put on hold due to the pandemic; plans for a second restaurant in the space, dubbed “Chicken Guy!”, remain unclear.

Despite the prime real estate, Berkowitz said he hoped the restaurant would provide an alternative dining experience for the area.

“The price points are a little different than some of the other venues around here, a little more approachable,” Berkowitz said.

Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen & Bar is a “joint venture” with the eponymous restaurateur, who licenses his name to various eateries including a Mexican-styled restaurant, Tequila Cocina, near TD Garden. However, the restaurant will be more informal than many of its neighbors in the Downtown Crossing area, Berkowitz said—though it will remain faithful to Fieri’s famous recipes.

“It’s what we call a ‘Tuesday night restaurant’ in the industry, which means it’s very approachable,” he said. “You can get up and go any night of the week, it doesn’t take a lot of thought.”

“We take reservations, but it doesn’t mean you have to go home and change,” he added. “If you’re going to the theater, and you’re dressed, great. I don’t necessarily look at it as a ‘special event restaurant,’ where there’s a lot of thought as to how to dress.”

Berkowitz plans to not only cater to the wide variety of people in Boston’s Theater District, but also to the hundreds of college students attending Boston-area institutions. The establishment, he said, will begin accepting ECCash from Emerson students in the spring term.

Emerson Dining Services could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday evening.

The relationship with Emerson goes deeper than ECCash, said Berkowitz, who also plans to host “Un-

plugged Nights” in the restaurant’s saloon—featuring college-aged artists from across the city.

Guy Fieri’s American Kitchen & community weeks before its opening.

Isabella Cubba, a sophomore visual and media arts major, was looking for a job after Thanksgiving Break; on Nov. 30, she was walking back from a class when she saw people inside the “I walked in and they gave me a test, and I talked to a couple different managers,” she said. “And I walked out about 40 minutes later, and they said, ‘You got the job.’”

Cubba hasd worked in food service before. However, she said that taking a job as a server was a steep learning curve—especially for a restaurant that was just opening.

“The fact that you are opening a restaurant is a whole different ball game than walking into another restaurant that’s been open for a couple years,” Cubba said. “That’s the hardest part right now, because everyone’s tryCubba described a rigorous training program crammed into four days, where she and her new coworkers were given a crash course in menu listings, computer systems, and drink garnishes.

“You’re a team, so in the end, it’ll out,” she said.

After opening Thursday evening, the restaurant will exclusively serve dinner for the next few weeks, Berkowitz said. Eventually it will transition to a weekend lunch menu, he said.

Berkowitz added that diners could expect a prominent visit sometime during the holiday season.

“There are a number of different Guy Fieri venues [in the New England area],” he said. “But we expect to see him [here] more often than a lot of other places.” camilo_fonseca@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

Opinion

December 9, 2021

4

Shane Dawson, YouTube’s racist old Grandpa Kaitlyn Fehr Beacon Staff Content Warning: This article contains mentions of racism, pedophilia, zoophilia, and sexual harassment.

It’s August 2018, and Shane Dawson’s “The Secret World of Jeffree Star” is premiering to millions. Jeffree Star is known for his controversies, but if anyone can fix his reputation, it’s Shane. For a day, the internet paused to see the newest career-boosting documentary, and viewers walked away with a different perception of the notorious Jeffree Star.

Today, the video has over 50 million views. Two years after the premiere and massive success of the Jeffree Star docuseries—a five episode series, the YouTube community watched Shane Dawson cancel himself into oblivion.

Dawson had reached massive stardom despite his rocky past, and as a former fan, I genuinely didn’t think he would ever truly be canceled. The internet community had already forgiven him for some of his actions, so why would he be canceled in the future?

The impossible did happen, though, and Shane Dawson was chased out of his top-dog spot.

Since then, he has returned to YouTube, but doesn’t amass the millions of instant views he used to and the community is not at all welcoming towards him, and rightfully so.

Despite an attempt at an apology, it seems Dawson’s days atop the YouTube mountain are permanently over due to his inability to take accountability for the numerous missteps he’s made throughout his career. What are those missteps? Let’s take a look at Dawson’s history: Dawson joined YouTube in 2008, and much like another creator on the platform named Onision, focused on shock jock offensive content that was part of the humor at the time.

From the very beginning, the content that propelled Shane Dawson into fame was highly offensive. Undeniably, Dawson’s racist “Shanaynay” character is what brought in his massive audience in the 2000s. Shanaynay is a character Dawson portrayed while wearing blackface, while feeding into racist stereotypes and says the n-word to make her “funny.”

For years, fans, mostly young fans, loved Shanaynay and would send Dawson fan art of the character and buy merchandise with her face. Years later in 2014, Dawson apologized for his racist actions, and the apology was generally well-received by the YouTube community.

Here’s where I, as a writer, have to admit that I was one of the people that accepted it. I was 14 at the time, and had only started watching Dawson after he had stopped posting Shanaynay videos. At the time, I stopped watching other offensive content creators like Onision because they wouldn’t apologize, so Dawson’s apology meant a lot to me as a young and impressionable viewer.

I realize now, that as a white woman, his apology was never mine to accept. Dawson’s apology

meant nothing because he would just pivot to make content that was offensive in other ways.

Soon after this 2014 apology, Dawson would shift his content from skits to his yellow thumbnail phase, where he would post dumb videos eating weird foods or doing challenges with other content creators. Dawson’s channel suffered for a while with this type of content. Then in 2016, Dawson uploaded one of his first conspiracy videos, titled “CELEBRITY CONSPIRACY THEORIES.” For the first time in his entire career, Dawson’s content was on YouTube’s trending tab, and as his content began to incorporate more and more conspiracy videos that brought in more and more views.

In November 2017, the yellow thumbnail era officially ended, and Dawson pivoted into docuseries content as well as conspiracy content.

This first docuseries video focused on Dawson himself and his relationship with his father. From there, Dawson would go on to post documentary-style videos about his hater Bobby Burns, GRAV3YARDGIRL, Tana Mongeau, Jake Paul, and two separate series on Jeffree Star.

The documentary-style content Dawson was publishing led to the peak of his career. He seemed like an unstoppable force that was taking over YouTube itself; and then came the cat incident.

The cat incident of 2019 was the first time in years that the general public had called Dawson on his problematic behaviors. The cat incident refers to a clip that went viral of Dawson in 2015 on his podcast “joking” about having sex with his cat when he was 19.

Obviously, memes abounded, and Dawson eventually had to come out with a tweet stating, “I didn’t fuck my cat. I didn’t cum on my cat. I didn’t put my dick anywhere near my cat. I’ve never done anything weird with my cats.”

The same year, Dawson played a role in “Dramageddon 2.0.” Dramageddon 2.0 refers to the incidents of summer 2019 where Tati Westbrook accused James Charles of sexually harassing minors and just not being a very good friend to her after he partnered with her rival company’s product.

Dawson wasn’t directly involved in the conflict, but he did publicly support Westbrook and trick viewers into thinking he was going to talk about the Dramageddon in the second Jeffree Star series.

For the next year, Dawson was insanely successful. He even launched a makeup line with Jeffree Star, which immediately sold out.

The next summer, Dawson seemingly brought on his own destruction. In June 2020, fellow content creator Jenna Marbles posted a video apologizing for her past actions and announced she would be leaving the platform.

Dawson admits in his apology he was inspired by Marbles’ video, and took it as a “sign from the universe” that he should upload his own apology video titled, “Taking Accountability.”

The reason Dawson’s apology fails is that he doesn’t actually take accountability. As a former

Courtesy Creative fan of Dawson’s, the main reason this apology doesn’t sit right is that he’s trying as hard as possible to separate himself now from the person who posted those videos. Dawson makes comments about how much he hates the person he was and how he doesn’t like seeing that version of himself.

As a viewer, it feels like he’s doing everything in his power to say, “Look guys, I’m not that person anymore so you have to forgive me.” He’s not acknowledging that he is that person, and that he always will be, even if he has changed. He doesn’t have a doppelgänger who was uploading offensive content to YouTube in 2010, it was all him.

At the time, no one was calling for an apology from Shane Dawson. He was still arguably one of the most popular creators on the platform, but his apology made fans who didn’t know about his offensive history start digging into it.

One of the first things people dug back up was an old scandal once again from a podcast where Dawson spoke about how sexy a six-year-old Instagram star was.

After that comment, Dawson backtracked and added, “Having sex with children or touching children is terrible and you should not do it.

But here’s my thing: people have foot fetishes. People have fetishes about everything. Why is it that when someone Googles ‘naked baby’ on the internet and jerks off to it they can get arrested? I don’t understand that.”

Somehow, it only gets worse from there. After this clip resurfaced, the internet dug up an old “comedy” show called “Hey It’s Milly” from Dawson and the Fine Bros where a puppet who was supposed to be an eight-year-old would make constant inappropriate jokes. Milly would constantly

“joke” about the abuse she suffered from her family, touch herself inappropriately, ask Dawson to have sex with her, and make sexual jokes.

At one point, in a video with both Dawson and Milly, Dawson pretended to motorboat the puppet. Fans of Dawson look for any excuse to defend him, and often say because it was only a puppet it doesn’t matter.

This kind of behavior normalizes pedophilia, and for children who stumble across this content, it could make them think sexual abuse they face from adults is normal. Just because it’s only a puppet doesn’t mean it’s harmless, there is intent and a message behind it.

About the same time as fans were digging up the old Milly videos, they also found an old video of Dawson pretending he was masturbating in front of a poster of a then 11-year-old Willow Smith.

Willow Smith’s mom and brother, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jaden Smith, came forward themselves to condemn Shane Dawson. Jaden Smith tweeted at the re-surfaced video, “SHANE DAWSON I AM DISGUSTED BY YOU,” and Jada Pinkett Smith tweeted, “To Shane Dawson ... I’m done with the excuses.”

When household name celebrities get involved in YouTube controversies you know it’s a big deal.

The Smith family calling Dawson out only served to bring more eyes to his downfall, but Dawson dealt the final blow to himself.

A mere four days after his apology, Dawson went live to react and call out Tati Westbrook. Westbrook had come forward a year after Dramageddon to claim that Dawson and Star manipulated her into lying about James Charles because the pair were threatened by how

fast he was growing.

In the livestream, Dawson screams at his TV screen that Westbrook is lying, and that, “[she is] so manipulative. [She’s] fake crying. [She is] fake crying, that is not real. Oh my god.”

Dawson ended the livestream after his fiance yelled at him to turn it off, and that was the last we heard from Dawson for a long couple months. While the internet is still massively divided on the Dramageddon situation, fans and critics alike didn’t take well to how unhinged Dawson came across in the livestream.

Now, well over a year later, Dawson is back to posting on YouTube. His videos don’t do nearly as well, and according to fans, are just as offensive as his old content was. Clearly, nothing has changed.

Dawson is one of the few examples of a canceled YouTuber facing some kind of consequences for their actions.

Dawson was one of the original creators on YouTube, and had escaped controversy over and over again. Somehow, he’s now the creator from Dramageddon to have taken the most damage, and he was the least involved.

Dawson brought on his own demise by apologizing horribly and continuing to make offensive content long after he said he would stop. Maybe one day he’ll realize the meager views he’s raking in isn’t worth it and leave the platform for good, but until then we’re stuck with YouTube’s racist old Grandpa.

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The Berkeley Beacon

December 9, 2021

5

The far-right is controlling the Republican Party, and Kevin McCarthy is embracing it Justin Chen Beacon Staff Since Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) became a law maker, I have been calling her and her close colleagues from the House Freedom Caucus such as Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Congressman Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) the “trolls of Congress” for their tendency to troll lawmakers on either side of the aisle.

But, sometimes, that trolling goes too far. This time Boebert, a known QAnon supporter, has been promoting Islamophobia in Congress. Several videos have surfaced online suggesting that Boebert boasted about a fake encounter with Congresswoman Ilham Omar (D-Minn.) where she reffered to Omar’s team and the House Progressive Caucus as the “Jihad Squad.”

Boebert suggested that Omar was a suicide bomber by stating that she was glad to see that Omar did not have a backpack with her. In the same video, Boebert suggested that Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was trying to learn how to “breastfeed” when he was on paternity leave. Because, of course, under her impression, when men go on paternity leave they automatically get periods, grow breasts, and begin lactating.

Not surprisingly, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is dead silent when his party pulls disgusting stunts like this, aside from his intervention in the Mace (R-SC.) and Taylor Greene, which ended badly when Mace retaliated by calling Taylor Greene “bat shit crazy” on Twitter. ing to Cancún avoiding this hot mess that members from his own party created like someone else we know.

However, when vile language is thrown around from his party to another, why does he choose to ignore it? Moreover,

why is Omar the bogeyman of the Democratic party for Republicans?

The only reason I can think of is that McCarthy wants the speakership, and in order to achieve his goal, the Republican Party must take back the house in the midterm elections next November. Their strategy to do so? Keep using former president Donald Trump’s rhetoric.

Since Boebert’s Islamophobic comments revealed, she has rightfully received criticism from fellow members of the house, including some in her own party. Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) called her “trash” while Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D. Mass.) introduced a resolution to condemn Boebert.

In the wake of pressure from both sides of the aisle, Boebert issued a rather soft apology saying that she was sorry she offended Omar and the Muslim community. However, this apology was shortlived. After a feisty conversation with Omar, she went on Twitter and spread her “wisdom.”

Instead of apologizing to Omar publicly, she demanded Omar publicly apologize for the “anti-American, antisemetic, anti-police” comments she made in the past, referring to Omar’s stance and past comments on the Israeli-Palestinian conMeanwhile, the feud within the Republican Party continues escalating regarding this issue. While Congresswoman Mace condemned Boebert’s comments, Congresswoman Taylor Greene commented that Mace should keep hanging with the “Jihad Squad.”

The unity, or lack thereof, within the party is a hot mess. Omar’s antisemitic comments deserve to be criticized, and the Democratic leadership in the House have come out and condemned it already— a dramatic difference from their colleagues across the aisle.

The far-right members of the Republican Party have certainly failed in understanding common sense, and it makes me

wonder: where is Kevin McCarthy? Apparently sitting on the sidelines allowing the GOP to follow in Trump’s footsteps.

The disgraced one-term president is known for his racist and Islamophobic language and actions both inside and outments towards former President Barack Obama and Rep. Omar to a Muslim travel ban, the former President is known for his hate against the Muslim community.

Trump’s racism fueled his power. He is and continues to be the most powerful criticizes any Republican in this country, their political career is over, just look at Rep. Liz Cheney, who was stripped of her leadership position in the party after she was an outspoken critic of Trump’s following the Jan. 6 insurrection. is afraid of these trolls from the House Freedom Caucus. Their languages and ideologies are so similar to Trump, making them more powerful and popular than McCarthy politically. If any Republicans come out and criticize these trolls, they will all be deemed as part of the “Jihad Squad.”

Some far-right GOP members have already expressed their anger towards McCarthy’s lack of action by pushing the party further right. For example, Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) has been saying that she will not vote yes for McCarthy to become the Speaker of the House if Republicans regain control of Congress next year.

In a recent podcast appearance with Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), Taylor Greene lamented that she “Can’t respect leadership that doesn’t hold people accountable, yet allows people like me, Paul Gosar, to be constantly trampled on and abused, and then will throw us under the By feeling the political pressure from the far-right, McCarthy, not surprisingly, just let it go, fearing the termination of his

Why we still love ‘Twilight’ Hadera McKay Beacon Correspondent

Why do the Twilight movies make us so intensely, undeniably uncomfortable?

Is it because we are instantly shown a problematic love story between an abusively gas-lighting 107-year-old horny vampire and an emotionally starved white 17-yearold pick-me girl? Or maybe it’s the Mormon undertones in Stephanie dress the criticisms of Mormonism by atheists. It could even be Taylor Lautner’s shady distant claims to Indigenous ancestry after landing real Quileute Nation in La Push, Washington.

If you think about it hard enough (and even if you don’t), there are plenty of reasons why the “Twilight” movies should be locked up in a vault somewhere never to be seen again or censored on every six year cultural corruption. However is this heaping literary indulgence of vampire sexual fantasies turned movie adaptation appealing because it is just that, bad?

A better question to ask ourselves is: why do we love the “Twilight” movies so much?

It seems for Gen-Z, the appeal of ulousness. It may sound outlandish, but maybe the unnecessary use of demon babies and beef with tyrannical vampire governments in order to move a plot forward is exactly what

Courtesy Creative movie’s release in 2008 and 16 years

top ten most-watched list for weeks this summer.

As a result, our timelines and TikTok For You pages were clogged with endless content creators mimicking Bella’s absurd pick-me mannerisms, Jasper’s unnerving bloodthirst, and Alice’s pitch at the family baseball game from hell.

In the same way that we’ve always done, we Gen-Zers found a way to make self-deprecating, self-aware content about the things we used to love when we were younger, while simultaneously loving and appreciating that content for what it was (much like I’m doing now). Even more, we’ve found a way to bring all of its cultural relevance to the surface once again, so that no generation will be without the experience of watching Hollywood actively bring Taylor Lautner from a nay with a bad lace front to a hey with some oversexualized shirtlessness.

its fan base was a combination of white middle-class women who saw Edward as their “safe character” to fantasize about in front of their husbands and young impressionable women (like myself) who probably had no business watching it in the proved to be our last straw, though, because after that, “Twilight” was universally considered bad in every way. Now, I kind of feel like the sheer insanity of its conception is what makes it so maddeningly lovable. But how exactly did we get here?

From the cultish mania of vampires versus werewolves and Edward versus Jacob, to TikToks of fashion bloggers boasting wardrobes inspired by Alice? How did these movies go from fanatic, to objectively bad, to fanatic again?

If you don’t know by now, “Twilight” started out as a popular Young Adult book series written by Stephenie Meyer. Meyer was the catalyst for successful paranormal Young Adult romance, and subsequently,

political power. A perfect example of his cowardness is his rhetoric in the wake of the insurrection.

McCarthy and the majority of Republicans in Congress have continuously attempted to gaslight the American public by denying the responsibility of Trump and the GOP for the insurrection.

Initially, McCarthy’s reaction was disgust, calling on the former president to bear the responsibility for inciting the violence. However, after he learned that Trump was furious at him, he walked back from his former statements, shrugged his shoulders, and said that he didn’t remember saying that.

This silence and cowardice from McCarthy are not only ruining the Republican Party but are also insulting towards his own constituents. His silence and indecisiveness on certain issues are certainly for his own political gain. His silence is killing the conservative establishment within the U.S. and further prompting white nationalism.

McCarthy should know better. He should know these things are wrong. He should know there should be no place in the U.S. Congress for this type of hypocrisy. He knows that his job is to get his constituents what they want, so why can’t McCarthy publicly condemn racist, anti-Muslim, and violent language and the beginning of young women centered fantasy and modern romance stories (*cough* “Fifty Shades” trilogy *cough*).

When Summit Entertainment obPrimarily because the plot followed a young woman with agency, which hadn’t proven successful yet on the big screen (not because they knew it wouldn’t, just because they hadn’t actually tried).

They hired Catharine Hardwicke, who reworked the script and cast who we now know as two of the most legendary characters of our generation, Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan and Robert Pattinson (or Daddy Patti as I affectionately call him) as Edward Cullen.

Just a few weeks before production began, Summit forced Hardwicke to cut $4 million out of the budget in four days. I’m sure all those shallow camera close-ups, hilariously choreographed action sequences, and the pukey bluish gray-green movie Nevertheless, Hardwicke prevailed, delivering the movie that ultimately led to the YA book to movie adaptation pipeline of Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games and Veronica Roth’s Divergent series.

“Twilight” grossed $69 million in its opening weekend and $393 million worldwide. ies with young female centered storylines were actually dominating cultural consumption. And just like that, the successful beginning to to male directors for “New Moon,” “Eclipse,” and both “Breaking over $3 billion worldwide.

Where does that leave us? Somewhere between staring longingly at Carlisle (arguably one of the top three hottest Cullens, get it right),

Courtesy Creative action from members of his party?

Instead of taking the right and responsible actions, he goes on Fox News to criticize Democrats, claiming that they are running the country into dismay, and playing the victim card of “cancel culture” by the “woke mobs.”

I sometimes wish that those Fox News hosts reminded him of his role as the minority leader––calling out hypocrisy within his party, negotiating with lawmakers from the opposite side of the aisle politely, and passing as much bipartisan tion. This seems to be too far-reach to ask of a Republican representative apparently.

At this point, McCarthy needs to think about what his party is: the party of Ronald Reagan or the party of Donald Trump? Real conservatism or white nationalism? He has the power to stand up to these trolls within the Republican party and to steer the dynamic back to true conservatism, but silence is not the option.

Instead of staying silent, McCarthy needs to come right out and condemn Boebert’s actions and strip her of her committee assignments. He must give up Trump and Trumpism and start pushing real conservatism. justin_chen@emerson.edu loving Rosalie for talking her shit at Bella’s dumbass, and screaming at the top of our lungs at Alice saving the day every. Damn. Time.

I’ve never been a fan of the idea of a “guilty pleasure.” Why should I feel guilty for liking something just because no one else likes it or considers it a cinematic masterpiece?

What I like about Gen-Z is that no to laugh at ourselves. We can poke fun and consume mindlessly, but we also have the capacity to recognize the absurdity of it all.

We can laugh at Jacob literally little Nessy before she’s even out of the womb yet, while writing Tumblr analyses on the abusive dynamic of Edward and Bella. We can comically remark on the failures of the police department of Forks, Washington (if the number of unsolved murders ruled as “animal attacks” in Forks isn’t a parallel to the failures of America’s justice system I don’t know what is), while also ogling Charlie. We can pine after Jasper (a literal confederate soldier at the time of his turning) and Alice’s relationship while also honoring the truth and proximity of Rosalie’s trauma.

And maybe this, above all, is why we love “Twilight”—because it is a convergence of everything we’ve learned, done, and wanted. It is not only our problematic love of toxic relationships, but also our awareness of the fact that they’re toxic in learning new things and recognizing both the good and the bad in what you love. It’s turning on “Breaking Dawn Part 2,” watching the moment ri, and knowing deep down that in this moment, this is your very own cinematic masterpiece. hadera_mckay@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

December 9, 2021

6

Living Arts

Jane Lynch’s Christmas show gave me the go ahead to be jolly

Beacon Staff

Mariyam Quaisar Beacon Staff

On Wednesday Dec. 8, I walked into the City Winery with the brightest smile plastered across my face.

Want to know why? Jane Lynch’s “A Swingin Little Christmas.”

The show is named for the former Glee star’s Christmas album of the same name, which she recorded with Kate Flannery, Tim Davis, and The Tony Guerrero Quartet in 2016. On the album, and in the show, Lynch takes iconic Christmas songs and puts a spin on them to provide Boston with an exhilarating performance that ended too soon.

“We want people to feel like it’s one of those old Christmas specials from the 60s and 70s that were so popular back then,” Tony Guerrero, the lead of the band, said.

In an interview with The Beacon prior to the show, Lynch said she was

excited to be performing “A Swingin’ Little Christmas” in front of a crowd again after COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the previous year’s performance.

“It’s become my Christmas tradition to do this show,” she said. “We love it, it’s just a joy.” in one of the front most tables, courtesy of Lynch, and excitement radiated off of us throughout the entire show, rightfully so.

The quintet commenced the show with a mix of piano, drums, saxophone, trumpet, and an upright bass.

creased tenfold. They quickly dropped the “serious act” and welcomed Boston with open arms, shining smiles, and entertaining jokes.

“It’s a blast,” Lynch said. “We have so much fun, and that is contagious. We love the music, it’s very precise and beautiful. It’s really about the beauty of this music and it’s just swinging.”

During every song, the audience was tapping their toes and swaying and when the performances ceased, laughter and applause from the audience commenced. Flannery, known to many as Meredith the drunk from

up the crowd for Lynch and Flannery’s upcoming antics with witty dialogue and playful behavior in between instrumentals.

The lights went out and then entered Lynch, Flannery, and Davis all three in all black. They vocalized as the lights slowly showered upon them -

humorous and lively personality. Flannery and Lynch’s relationship, one that reminds me a lot of my roommate and I’s, kept the crowd engaged and chuckling. Flannery’s many alcohol jokes had my cheek bones aching by the end of the night.

One of my two favorite songs of the show was ”Sentimental Christmas,”

and here’s why. One of the lyrics is, “or the year my boyfriend gave to me his lousy STD.” Another lyric is, “Waking Christmas morning next to someone I don’t know.” Guess who sings those lines? The icon: Flannery.

Paired with Flannery’s hilarious lyrics were Lynch’s expressions and Davis’s sincere Christmas spirit. They make quite a trio.

“Christmas is a time when everybody is listening to the same songs,” Guerrero said. “As a society, Christmas music brings us all together. The music we [perform] evokes that, and all the songs were written for that feeling of unity and joy.”

My second favorite song, because I know you’re dying to know, was “Jingle Bells.” The instant the song came on, my friends and I perked up and belted along. Listening to “Jingle Bells” in the voice of Sue Sylvester evoked hundreds of emotions within me. There were too many childhood

safe to say I’ve never felt such joy.

Lynch said the trio doesn’t aim to evoke a particular emotion from the audience, instead focusing on doing their best to create a relationship with the crowd.

“We just do the best take on a particular song that pleases us, and if it’s pleasing us and it’s got mastery to it, the audience is right there,” Lynch said. “It turns into this one-on-one relationship, and that’s why we like intimate places. We like to be able to look into the eyes of the people and really have a connection.”

The multiple standing ovations weren’t enough to appreciate “A Swingin’ Little Christmas.” Lynch, Flannery, and Davis’s animated vocals paired with the euphonious instruments eloquently pushed the packed City Winery into the gates of Christmas. I wouldn’t trade the night for the world. mariyam_quaisar@emerson.edu

Photo practicum captures array of student experiences Sophia Pargas Beacon Staff

Upon walking into the Huret and Spector Gallery on the sixth floor of the Tufte Building this week, one is greeted by a professional, vibrant, and emotional exhibition filling the space around them.

The photos in the exhibit are an accumulation of 11 students’ photography throughout the course of just one semester of Professor Camilo Ramirez’s class “Photo Practicum.”

“Places They Call Home,” organized by the Department of Visual and Media Arts, launched Dec. 6 and consists of student photography portraying topics such as grief, identity, sexuality, community, adolescence, and gender.

It will remain on display until Dec.10.

The photo practicum features the works of Ian Bishop, Kasey Brodwater ‘22, Gloria Cao ‘23, Langley Custer, Xinyi (Cindy) Gao ‘22, Zeyun Liu, Carly McGoldrick ‘22, Taina Milsap ‘22, Anna Moon, Brooke Northrup ‘22, and Mariely Torres ‘21. (Millsap served as The Beacon’s living arts editor for two semesters).

Their work is titled “Black & White City, Green Devil,” “The Kids Turned Out Fine,” “I Was Never Really Here,” “Everything that’s happened since,” “U.S. & us,” “Untitled: 2021,” “Fort Imagination,” “It Could Also Look Like This,” “Eastie: Our Home,” “Being Here,” and “Is There Any Other Place,” respectively.

The gallery provides each contributing student with a personal space to display their works in whatever creative manner they feel works best.

Each section exudes a different en-

ergy and generates a different emotion, both through the content in the photos and the way they are printed, framed, or laid out on the wall. Some students’ work inspire nostalgia, some trigger sadness, and others provoke realization. All are unique, and all leave room for audiences to walk away from the gallery more enlightened than they came.

Ramirez’s course is intended to give students the opportunity to create their own works and gain real world photography experience. The class is open to anyone who has taken two introductory level photography classes.

“A practicum is a culmination of all the things we’ve learned in photography and applying them in a way that’s professional and presentation ready, and the next step before going out into the world as a professional,” Ramirez said. “The class is basically trying to take all of the previous knowledge and build on that to something that is an extended exploration of some topic or idea.”

Students such as Brodwater, a visual media arts major working towards a Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography, diligently worked over the course of the past semester to choose a concentration, compile their work, and ultimately create the gallery. “‘Places They Call Home’ is an exhibit that highlights the work of a handful of students who all worked on their own individual projects for an extended period of time,” Brodwater said in an interview with The Beacon.

“Their projects all resonate with them as an individual deeply. They all tell a different story.”

At the beginning of the course, each student was in charge of choosing a

concentration which they will work to capture and curate over the semester.

“I struggled with picking a concept for this project, because I didn’t want to pick one thing and focus on shooting just that one thing for a whole year,” Brodwater said. “I wanted to pick a concept that left me with freedom to shoot what I want to shoot.

It evolved from a wanderlust sort of thing to what is now a project about adolescence and youth. It was interesting to see it all come together and to see how everyone’s projects changed throughout.”

McGoldrick, a BFA candidate in the photography program, found that these concentrations narrowed down as the semester continued.

While McGoldrick’s original idea was to tell the story of her relationship with her mother through the lens of her hometown, her idea has evolved greatly since. After the sudden death of her childhood friend Lucy, McGoldrick’s project, “Fort Imagination,” now tells the story of the adolescence the two shared all those years ago.

Her exhibit depicts photographs of playgrounds and children’s toys, some captured in black and white and others in color. In addition, it includes archival photographs taken by McGoldrick’s mother of the two girls as infants and toddlers.

“This project was a way of grieving my friend, but also grieving the happier things that we did like going to playgrounds,” she said. “These photos feel really sad to me, but kind of in a way that is reminiscent and blissful and nostalgic.”

Once the concentrations are chosen, Ramirez guides the students through the process of creating their exhibit, down to every last detail.

“We do critiques where we checkin, look at the pictures, talk about them, discuss their ideas and craft, and then just keep refining it and refining it and refining it down to every decision,” Ramirez said. “What size will the prints be? Which pictures are go-

“Places They Call Home.”

ing to be in the edit? How many? How are they going to be installed? Will it be framed or not? Will there be video? Will there be audio components?

There are so many decisions, and it really is an individual conversation that has more to do with the students’ vision than what I would want to impose.”

Through this experience, McGoldrick was able to use her vision to grieve the loss of her friend, as well as find joy in the memories that may have otherwise remained in the past.

“It’s not necessarily a piece or a body of work about dying young,” McGoldrick said. “It’s more a piece of reflecting on childhood and memory.

I’ve learned how to make art about bad things that have happened to me in a way that isn’t exploitative or melodramatic. It just feels very honest to me and to how I feel about what happened.”

Other projects, such as Brodwater’s, explore a more broad approach to their concentrations. “The Kids Turned Out Fine,” focuses on the complexities of growing up, especially for our generation which arguably had to grow up too quickly.

“I wanted to highlight being young, being reasonably risking and just living life to the fullest,” Brodwater said.

“I tried to include some contrasting

/ Beacon Staff

photos, some reminders of adolescence and being young like the carousel and the bowl of cereal and the school bus. I also included a picture from a Black Lives Matter protest, the mirror with the blood on it, things that showed the darker side of getting older. I wanted to appreciate getting older, and the beauty of the danger of that.”

Now that the student work is finally available to the larger community, there is a sense of pride and joy in knowing that a semester’s worth of dedication has paid off. This has resulted in not only a beautiful gallery, but also thought-provoking subjects that audiences can explore.

“It’s so rewarding to have this,” Brodwater said. “Even though I’ve had tons of photography classes where I’ve put prints up on the wall, it hasn’t been a wall like this in a gallery. It really opened my eyes to curating and how hard that can be. It’s extremely rewarding to see your work up in a gallery and it really forces you to think of what you’re photographing and also what you’re showing.”

“It makes you feel really good about yourself in the end to have a physical product up and get to say, ‘I did that,’” she continued. sophia_pargas@emerson.edu

The Berkeley Beacon

December 9, 2021

7

Essay collection ‘How to Make a Slave and Other Essays’ wins award Courtesy

Cont. from Pg. 1 “I worked on stories that showed African Americans as victims of racism and oppression and poor treatment by society at large, which is all true, but [a professor of mine at the University of Iowa] James McPherson thought it was also important for me to write stories that had the opposite message, which was to say that African Americans were also strong and brave heroic survivors,” Walker said.

Walker hopes he can provide thoughtful, well written, and humorous essays to a range of audience members.

“For people who have similar experiences to mine, the book affirms those experiences and lets people know that they are not alone,” he said. “And for people who are coming to my work with very different experiences, my hope is that they will nonetheless see themselves on the page.”

Walker’s writing is largely shaped by his experiences growing up on the South Side of Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s. He said his first book, Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption, especially drew memories from his childhood within “tough, poor, crime ridden communities.” Falling into a cycle of trouble as a high school drop out, Walker experienced police brutality on a regular basis.

“There wasn’t a whole lot of confronting with officers, because they were hitting you in the back of the squad car with their sticks,” he said.

Walker said it’s important to confront racism when you see it, especially through the power of writing. He drew an example from his time at Emerson, when in 2008 a security guard allegedly racially

profiled him and three other Black faculty members as they entered the Little Building for the Annual Faculty of Color Dinner.

“It was funny because I have a quirky kind of a mind, and even

“The book’s featured themes stem from one common question: ‘What is it like being an African American living in today’s society?’” while it was happening, I was thinking to myself ‘This is going to make a phenomenal essay,’” he said. “And so I wrote an essay

about that, even though it was my institution, and even though it made some of the administration a little bit uncomfortable. But as I said, when these things happen, they have to be called out and addressed and made public so that people know they can’t get away with it. The result in my situation was the security guard being fired.”

Throughout his work, Walker often uses writing as a tool for mediation.

“I typically write about whatever’s plaguing me,” he said in an interview. “If something’s been on my mind and I’ve been thinking about it for a while and if it’s something puzzling me, I simply try to figure it out through the course of an essay.”

According to Walker, this approach not only resolves personal conflict, but promotes messages that carry weight to a much larger audience. Walker’s content has progressively evolved since the start of his writing career, primarily because of the influence of McPherson, to whom he dedicates How to Make a Slave and Other Essays.

“He was one of my teachers who saw that I had potential, recognized that I was wasting it with a bad approach to literature, and he took me under his wing and mentored me for four or five years,” Walker said. “He helped me shape my worldview, and that worldview is evident throughout this essay collection.”

How to Make a Slave and Other Essays also consists of many pieces of Walker’s life as an adult trying to raise two children.

“There’s a lot on parenthood and some of the mistakes I’ve made, and the ways that I’m trying to get better at this every day,” Walker said.

“For people who have similar experiences to mine, the book affirms those experiences and lets people know that they are not alone and for people who are coming to my work with very different experiences, my hope is that they will nonetheless see themselves on the page.”

- Jerald Walker Melissa Karen Sances ‘22, a student receiving her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, has taken two nonfiction workshops with Walker and read all of his work, including the award winning essay series.

“The collection is exemplary for many reasons,” Sances said. “[Walker’s] writing is so tightly crafted that not one word is extraneous. He writes six of his essays in the second person, which allows him to both address and include the reader in his experience, to help them consider what it means to him and to them. This is especially important because he’s writing about complex topics like race and rage.”

“That said, Jerald is never a victim in his essays or his prose,” she continued. “He often uses humor very effectively in this regard.”

Walker’s mentors played a vital role in shaping his motivation to stick with writing, which was often perceived as a risk by those around him, like his family. McPherson, along with Walker’s first creative writing professor, Edward Homewood, were the sparks of hope that ignited Walker’s drive.

“If I hadn’t met professor Homewood specifically, I would not have been a writer,” Walker said. “When I met him, I was a 24 year old high school dropout, and

I was attending the local community college trying to get my life back on track, and I randomly took a creative writing class. I’d never written before or taken a class. He read one of my stories and said to me ‘You should be at the Iowa writers workshop.’”

Homewood later ended up paying for Walker’s college tuition, and Walker’s first published book was the last Homewood read before his death.

Along the way, Walker also experienced constant, racially-motivated discouragement—sometimes from his peers.

“Even when I attended my graduate program, my classmates did their best to try and discourage me by saying ‘I don’t know how you got into this program,’ ‘this writing sucks,’ ‘you must be here on some minority fellowship or affirmative action,’” he said.

This type of anxiety-inducing risk and backlash within the creative industry is something most Emerson students can relate to, and Walker encourages students to turn that doubt into passion.

“If you sometimes get discouraged when writing, that is common, and that’s part of the process, and you have to do what one of my creative writing teachers said, to ‘proceed on faith,’” Walker said. “You have to believe that the end result will be worth it. ‘How to Make a Slave’ was rejected by over 20 publishers and I kept sending it out until someone took it. Keep revising it and sending it out, and hope that the right reader receives it.”

“Sometimes rejections are a matter of the wrong reader reading your stuff,” he continued. “It’s not a commentary on your talent or the work you’ve done.”

Walker constantly brings encouragement into his classroom setting, yet also maintains a relationship built on respect and honesty with his students, according to Sances.

“Jerald is unflinchingly honest, and he pulls no punches about the importance of careful craft,” she said. “I’ve had many professors who coddle their students, but Jerald tells it like it is. His criticism is on point but never personal, and when he compliments writing, he is genuinely impressed.”

Walker said that although your work may not result in a published book, you have to believe that the process itself is going to be worth it. For him, it was a 20 year process, but it was worth it in the end.

Seeing all of his writing come together and win awards was a gratifying experience.

“The value of these types of awards is not just so that you can hang some plaque on the wall, but just so that you can get some validation from an outside source that the work you’re doing is valuable and important and worthy,” Walker said.

When Walker heard the news that How to Make a Slave and Other Essays won an Annual Massachusetts Book Award, the first thing he did was tell his wife, who played a major role in shaping the title of the book.

“My wife was actually working from home that day and she was on a Zoom call and I stood before her and made hand and face gestures until she managed to figure out what I was saying,” he said.

The book title How to Make a Slave comes from Walker’s title of the first essay in the collection.

“The phrase is a quote from Frederick Douglass, who one day decided he would not take any more beatings from his slave master,” Walker said. “Before Douglass fought back, he said, ‘You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.’ In my essay, I quote that phrase to my wife when I make the decision to no longer be a slave to unreasonable fears of racism.” margarita_norman@emerson.edu

Sports

The Berkeley Beacon

December 9, 2021

8

Senior center earns accolades for dominant performances Clarissa Calderon

Beacon Correspondent Jarred Houston was named to his second Defensive Player of the Week for Men’s Basketball by the New England Women’s and Men’s Conference on Monday after the senior center put up 16.5 boards, one steal, and four blocks per game. He also recorded 20 rebounds against Bridgewater State.

Houston has torched the competition to open the 2021-22 campaign––accumulating an average of 18.6 points, 14.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 3.4 blocks a game in eight appearances on the year.

Houston won the award twice in three weeks — for the weeks ending on Nov. 21 and Dec. 5. The only week he didn’t win the award, Emerson played just three games.

Houston said he approached this season with more determination after the pandemic prevented him from playing his junior year.

“I felt more motivated to work harder in the summer because I didn’t want to waste any more time because I had already lost a year,” Houston said. “I understood coming in that our team had a chance to be great.”

In his first showing, Houston put together two double-doubles against Brandeis University and Emmanuel College. The senior recorded 20 boards, four blocks, and a team-best 24 points against Emmanuel.

Houston would carry the momentum into the following games which resulted in his second appearance in NEWMAC honors.

The Lions took on Plymouth State University and Bridgewater State University and Houston put together another two double-double games––including once again pulling down 20 rebounds at Bridgewater. Through the first four weeks

of the season, Houston has seven double-doubles and leads the NEWMAC in field goal percentage, rebounds, rebounds per game, and blocks.

As the team’s starting center, Houston attributed his ongoing work to improve his shot-blocking and rebounding skills for his success. However, he also credited his teammates for their hard work.

“My skills as a shot-blocker and rebounder on the defensive glass have helped me the most throughout this season,” Houston said.

“As much as this accomplishment is something that seems to be individual, everyone has done a great job playing defense this season.”

Junior shooting guard Bryan Lupiáñez said Houston takes some pressure off the team when he’s on the floor.

“He makes the game easier for all of us,” Lupiáñez said. “Whenever we need somebody to make a big play on the defensive end, we can rely on him [Houston] to take care of that.”

Lupiáñez said while the team is proud of Houston for his individual successes, the squad has their sights on more than just defensive player of the week awards.

“We’re all chasing one thing and that’s winning the NEWMAC Championship and going to the NCAA Tournament,” Lupiáñez said. “We’re very proud of him [Houston] and he’s humbled of this award, but he’s chasing something bigger than this.”

Senior guard Zach Waterhouse said playing with Houston has helped his own performance on the court. “[Houston] helps our team play better,” Waterhouse said. “Me, as a basketball player—I know I wouldn’t have half of the points or good plays I’ve had if it wasn’t for [Houston] because we work so well together.”

Column: It’s the NFL’s fault that the Patriots are back

Courtesy

Brendan Beauregard Beacon Staff Last season, it seemed the New England Patriots had finally fallen back to Earth. New England missed the playoffs for the first time in 20 years and saw franchise icon and former Patriots starting quarterback Tom Brady win the Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

2021 had every possibility of being another transitional season for New England. Potentially, the

team would start a rookie at quarterback, have a below-average offense, and win enough games to not be in the top 10 in the following NFL Draft again.

All of that was the ultimate fantasy of the entire NFL. But that was just a dream. Unlike how the Emperor somehow returned in Star Wars, the NFL knows exactly how the Patriots returned and it’s because of the NFL alone.

With the majority of the league not having much cap room during the 2021 free agency period, Patri-

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The men’s basketball team’s most common starting lineup is made up of four seniors. Waterhouse said he will miss the camaraderie on the team and playing with Houston as his final season as a Lion approaches.

“There’s something really special about being in college, on an athletic team because we all have a similar goal,” Weatherhouse said.

“That brings something that you can’t really replicate in any other place in your life.”

Houston stands tall at 6’10”, which senior point guard Trevor McLean said contributed to his success.

“Jarred has a lot of natural talent and size that our team nor anyone in the league has,” McLean said.

“He worked to get in incredible shape over the summer and in the offseason. He set the tone and it made us [the team] work harder and want to be better.”

As a teammate and close friend, McLean said he is thrilled to be able to witness Houston’s success.

“I’m incredibly happy for him,” McLean said. “I was Jarred’s [first] year roommate so seeing him grow over the last four years has been really special for me. He’s one of my best friends and he definitely deserves it.”

McLean said it will be difficult for the seniors to go their separate ways at the conclusion of the season.

“I’m going to miss [Houston] a bunch,” McLean said. “He has

become like a brother to me and we’ve been through so much together so it’s going to be tough letting go of this experience.”

Houston said he is excited about his accomplishment and looking forward to the rest of the season.

“It feels great,” Houston said.

“Right now, we’re playing some good basketball and hopefully we can continue to improve on both sides of the ball.”

“I want to win a NEWMAC Championship and continue to play basketball in March,” he continued.

ots head coach Bill Belichick and co. went on the offensive. They signed former Baltimore Raven outside linebacker Matthew Judon whose 12.5 sacks puts him third in the league per ESPN. New England double dipped in the tight end pool and snagged Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith–– signings that have clearly paid off, with Henry currently being tied for first in touchdown receptions by a tight end with seven according to ESPN. As well as getting overperforming wide receiver Kendrick Bourne with his 42 catches, 623 receiving yards, and five touchdowns.

Perhaps the greatest off-season addition to the Patriots––and worst decision by the NFL––came at the 2021 NFL Draft. Sitting at the 15th overall pick, New England took University of Alabama quarterback Mac Jones.

Jones was the fifth quarterback selected during the draft per Pro Football Reference. Some draft pundits said that while his accuracy was eye-catching, his potential ranged anywhere from a backup to a so-so starter. In other words, he wasn’t going to amount to anything.

The somehow destined for mediocrity Jones so far ranks first out of all rookie quarterbacks in wins, completion percentage (also is third out of all quarterbacks), touchdown passes, and passing yards per StatMuse. Does all of that sound like a backup potential quarterback?

Sure, New England didn’t have the best of starts to the 2021 season. The Patriots lost winnable games to the Miami Dolphins, Buccaneers, and Dallas Cowboys where if one play went New England’s way in all three games, they’d be victorious.

Since the Dallas game brought New England’s record to a lousy 2-4, the Patriots have since stormed their way back and up to the apex of the American Football Conference––having won seven straight games and an average score being 32-10 Patriots per ESPN. The latest win, a 14-10 triumph on the road Monday night against division rival Buffalo Bills, may be the best out of the seven so far.

The freezing temperature in Buffalo made a wicked partnership with wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour––significantly impacting the passing game of both teams.

What did New England do with that rare and wild wind? They ran the ball again and again and again.

Out of the Patriots’ 49 plays, 46 were runs––with New England’s lone touchdown coming on running back Damien Harris’ 64-yard scamper.

It’s simply ridiculous that in today’s NFL where the ball is thrown here, there, and everywhere, a team can still play old-school football from a century ago and run on 94-percent of its plays. Along with the quarterback position, arguably the most important position in football, having almost zero impact.

Judon put it best after the game about New England’s offensive performance Monday night and Jones’ contribution.

“Hats off to the offense really besides Mac,” Judon said postgame via NBC Sports Boston. “He really didn’t do nothing.” Preach it, Mr. Judon.

When it was Jones’ turn to take the podium, he praised the New England offensive line and running back, as well as commented on the conditions.

“Just a crazy game to be part of,” Jones said during the postgame press conference. “It was a weird day but at the end of the day, you get more points than the other team and it’s a great day.”

The rookie quarterback speaks the truth in many ways. Yes, it turned out to be a great day for New England to secure a win, but it was a great day for another reason. Monday night proved a new era is starting for the team that dominated the NFL for 20 years, and all New England needed was a year to reload to come roaring back up the mountain.

Congratulations to the 31 other NFL teams. You waited decades for the Patriots to no longer be the Patriots and you only let it last for a year. Now, New England is back where it’s been since 2001, and that’s contending for the Lombardi trophy.

clarissa_calderon@emerson.edu

brendan_beauregard@emerson.edu