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Following a decline in enrollment, Emerson College announced in an email to college and staff on Tuesday that it would lay off staff and leave some vacancies unfilled in fiscal 12 months 2025, in accordance with .
The college attributes the decline in enrollment partially to “negative press and social media” following the pro-Palestinian demonstrations and subsequent arrests.
In the early hours of April 25, 118 student protesters were arrested by Boston police as officers raided the pro-Palestinian encampment on Boylston Place Alley, a public path resulting in the State Transportation Center.
President Jay Bernhardt wrote that he expects the enrollment decline to last just one 12 months, however the budget impact will last for several years.
“We attribute this decline to several factors, including a nationwide trend toward a shift away from smaller private institutions, a delay in application fees in response to the implementation of the new FAFSA program, student protests against our yield events and campus tours, and negative press coverage and social media exposure as a result of the demonstrations and arrests,” Bernhardt wrote in an email sent to the Times.
Michelle Gaseau, a spokeswoman for Emerson, declined to comment on the matter Wednesday morning, saying the message was internal.
Boston.com was unable to achieve Emerson Staff Union members in time for publication.
However, one faculty member said they were completely taken by surprise by the announcement.
“It doesn’t make sense,” said Illona Yosefov, an instructional technologist at the school and chief administrator of the unionYosefov can also be a member of the school and staff of Justice in Palestine.
“It feels like taking advantage of the situation to do what you want. It also feels like it's a way to silence dissent, to scare people into compliance,” Yosefov said. “I wonder if [Bernhardt is] I'm trying to send them all a message that they should behave in the fall, otherwise something will happen.”
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