Emerson College: where voices hit a brick wall.
By Amyah Bishop and Birdi Diehl
By Amyah Bishop and Birdi Diehl
The following is a video project detailing Emerson College students and how they feel on campus given the recent arrests of students during a protest, as well as their own personal experiences. We interview a multitude of students put a focus on experiences from Black students, and students of color in general at Emerson.
On Friday March 22, Emerson College welcomed a new president, Jay Berhardt. As Bernhardt was celebrating a new chapter as the 13th president, 13 students were arrested outside of the Cutler Majestic Theater, protesting his inauguration. The majority of the Emerson College students arrested were black and brown.
Their main reason for protesting was Emerson College’s inability to efficiently and effectively address the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, demanding the higher education insitution to take what they deemed as the necessary steps to support what they defined as the genocide going on in Gaza.
On the day of the arrests, students were taken by the Boston Police via Emerson Police Department urgings and were then put on bail. Once hearing of this, students came together to raise funds for those who could not pay for the bail.
When they finally returned to campus, they all faced consequences that restricted their movement around Emerson College. Proceeding this, many students at Emerson College were left to question what the institution they chose stood for, and if they held the same ideals.
Leonie Okunyade, a first year at Emerson College, said how she felt attending Emerson College.
“I feel there’s not enough resources especially for People of Color [at Emerson College]. I’m not sure how safe I am here… Honestly, some of the vibes that some of the students give off usually gives me fear when I see some posts about People of Color…Especially with everything going on in Palestine… I’m a little nervous to come up to them in person,” said Okunyade.
Titus Graves, when asked what he thinks about Emerson College, he described it as a “PWI respectfully”.
PWIs, or Predominantly White Institutions, are attended by 53% of Black students of the only 13% of Black students that make up the population. Approximately 7% of Black students attend Black colleges and universities according to a case study by the Natonal Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) in 2021. At Emerson College only 6% of the population is made up of African American students.
While there have been efforts in recent years throughout the college to make students a part of these communities feel welcome, the amount of Black students still remains small showing no significant increase in Black students that decide to attend Emerson.
When referencing the protest and subsequent arrests, many students at Emerson College were outraged and disheartened.
Madison Lucchesi, a first year at Emerson College, said, “I don’t really have formed thoughts about it yet. All I know is that it’s ridiculous and it seems that whatever happened isn’t documented well. It’s a lot of they said, they said against each other. So I think the administration needs to figure out what’s going on”.
Claire Patch, a first year at Emerson College, said she was “angry and frustrated” at Emerson College because “[they] couldn’t have handled it in a worse way” and “every chance they got to say the wrong thing they did”.
Bella Piant, a first year at Emerson College, describes their experience at Emerson College as a Person of Color.
“It’s been really difficult. Honestly, I found it very hard to kind of fit in at first… In my old school, I went to a really white school. So I was expecting college to be better [because] more people, a big city, bigger environment, but honestly, it’s felt worse,” said Piant. “I feel like there is very little done to support POC students on the campus and I wish there would be more support for [us]”.
