Longtime Emerson faculty member and Professor Emeritus of History John M. Coffee Jr. died on May 8, 2012. He was 83 and a resident of Brookline, Massachusetts.
Coffee taught at the College for 35 years, and was the author (with Richard Wentworth ’79) of a large volume on the history of Emerson College, A Century of Eloquence.
John Coffee is pictured at Alumni Weekend 2006, where he was honored after his retirement. It was a standing-room-only event.
He was universally beloved by his colleagues and “adored” by his students. He was known as a talented storyteller who brought history alive in his classroom.
Coffee’s Emerson career began in 1966, when he started teaching part time. In 1970, he became a full-time faculty member and taught a variety of courses, among them Western Civilization, Religion in Eastern Culture, History of New England, and History of the Bible.
Born in Tacoma, Washington, on November 20, 1928, Coffee came to the Northeast when his father was elected to the U.S. Congress. He attended Yale University and graduated in 1951; he then pursued two master’s degrees at Harvard, in divinity (MDiv) and theology (ThM).
Coffee was an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, serving churches in both Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He was the Minister Emeritus of the First Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts, and served as president of the Boston Ministers Association.
Coffee was an enthusiastic collector of transportation tokens, such as car wash tokens and parking tokens. He authored numerous articles on the subject of transportation and numismatics (the study or collection of currency). He also authored several books, including The Atwood-Coffee Catalogue of United States and Canadian Transportation Tokens; Real Estate Tokens; and Car Wash Tokens. Coffee was a member of the American Vecturist Association (AVA) and served as the editor of its monthly newsletter “The Fare Box” since 1949.
The 1981 Emersonian yearbook was dedicated to Coffee, in honor of his teaching methodology and his ability to make historical events relevant to modern life.
Through one of his students, Coffee was introduced to author Stephen King; King enjoyed the encounter so much that he named the main character in The Green Mile for Coffee.
President Emerita Jacqueline Liebergott said, “His classes were large, because his door was always open. My math tells me he may have taught two-thirds of the students who attended Emerson during his time here. The word on the street was, ‘Don’t leave Emerson without taking a course with John Coffee.’ He was intellectually challenging and he had a good heart. We all have Coffee moments we share with others because the lessons of great teachers live forever.”
Gary Grossman ’70, a TV producer, Emerson Trustee, and former student of Coffee’s, said, “John Coffee remains a legend within Emerson College. About a year ago, I attended a play in Los Angeles. At one interactive moment with the audience, an actor called out from the stage, ‘Who was your favorite teacher ever?’ One audience member called out ‘Reverend John Coffee from Emerson College!’ Applause came from all corners of the theater; other Emerson grads, who happened to be there by coincidence, all agreed. He was one of the most phenomenal teachers, influential scholars, and remarkable mentors students ever knew.”
Lauren Shaw, professor in the Department of Visual and Media Arts, remembered how “he adored his students and his students adored him. I think that was why he taught for so long—because he loved the students. He had very little tolerance for anything that took him away from teaching. He had a devoted relationship with students long after they had graduated.” Every summer, Shaw recalled, Coffee boarded a train and rode across the United States. “That was his absolute, to-die-for pleasure and he would come back with amazing stories.” Shaw said Coffee inspired “adulation” in his students.
Assistant Professor of Journalism Michael Brown, a longtime colleague of Coffee’s, said, “He was a favorite of so many people. He was a great storyteller and a good, good, good person.”
Former student and current Trustee Robert Friend ’79 said, “The Reverend John Coffee was an iconic Emerson professor. His presentation style brought the history curriculum to life in a dramatic way. He is a true Emersonian who will be greatly missed by all alumni who had the distinct privilege of experiencing his caring gift of education.”
Former student Ron Bostwick ’81, co-president of the Colorado Chapter of the Alumni Association, said, “I feel the best example of what Reverend Coffee was to Emersonians wasn’t how many students took his classes, or how many took multiple classes with him. It was how many former students, from across the decades, happily came to honor him at his ‘Coffee with Coffee’ retirement talk at Alumni Weekend in 2006.”
Students attend Cannes Film Festival
Several Emerson students and one staff member have traveled to France to take part in the Cannes Film Festival through a program called Creative Minds in Cannes, which runs through May 28. While there, students will network and intern with industry professionals, attend workshops and film screenings, and meet Emerson alumni working in the industry who are also in attendance.
Students involved in the program are: Jordan Baker, David Broyles, Oyku Canli, Liz Fisher, Alexandra Hayes, Tiffani Hiler, Stefani Robinson, and Michael Sellari. Anna Feder, program coordinator for the Department of Visual and Media Arts, is accompanying them.
Feder and the students will blog throughout the trip about their experiences and about Emerson community members who are participating in the festival. Follow their blog »
The Cannes Film Festival is an event that previews new films of all genres from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is one of the world's most prestigious film festivals.
Emerson to honor outstanding alumni
Emerson will honor four outstanding alumni during Alumni Weekend 2012. Tony Award–winning Broadway producer Bonnie Comley, MA ’94, and venture capitalist Paul Santinelli ’91 will receive Distinguished Alumni Awards. Technology and gaming video host Veronica Belmont ’04 and Maserati GranTurismo designer Jason Castriota ’97 will receive Young Alumni Achievement Awards. All four recipients will receive their awards at an event June 2 at the Ritz-Carlton in Boston.
Other events taking place during Alumni Weekend include a showcase featuring Emerson students, alumni, and faculty, including a performance by Professor Emeritus Ken Crannell; a night of dinner and dancing at the Ritz-Carlton; a farewell reception for recently retired Professor Emeritus Stephen Shipps; a sunset Boston Harbor cruise; workshops led by Emerson alumni and faculty; Phi Alpha Tau’s 110th Anniversary Celebration; and the 4th Annual WERS Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony.
Comley won her first Tony Award for producing Broadway’s Jay Johnson: The Two and Only in 2007. The vice president of Stellar Productions Int’l Inc., Comley most recently produced Superior Donuts at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway and the Tony–nominated and Drama Desk award–winner Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps at the Helen Hayes Theatre.
Comley’s other Broadway credits include Legally Blonde and Broadway revivals of American Buffalo; Sunday in the Park with George; Cyrano de Bergerac, starring Kevin Kline, Jennifer Garner, and Daniel Sunjata; Fiddler on the Roof, starring Alfred Molina; and Gypsy, starring Bernadette Peters.
Comley serves on the Board of the Directors for the Drama League, the Board of Advisors for The Theatre Museum, the Dean’s Advisory Council at Emerson College, and the Chancellor’s Advisory Board for The University of Massachusetts Lowell.
Paul Santinelli ’91
Santinelli is a venture capitalist who invests in technology companies.
Santinelli has been a partner at North Bridge Venture Partners since 2005. Based in California, he focuses on investments in open source, software, security, Internet applications, and infrastructure and communications. Previously, he served as director of Red Hat Network and was responsible for product definition, strategy, engineering, product management, marketing, and lifecycle management for the company’s flagship software services offering. He also served as the director of global information systems and technology during his tenure at Red Hat.
Prior to Red Hat, Santinelli was founder and CEO of NOCpulse, a Silicon Valley software start-up focused on delivering the next–generation enterprise systems management platform. While at NOCpulse, Santinelli was nominated for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award of 2002. Before founding NOCpulse, he was chief technology officer of Global Center and vice president of technology for Global Crossing, a telecommunications company that built and operated the world’s first independent global fiber optic network. During the past 12 years, Paul has held various engineering, product management, and marketing positions in companies including IBM, Lotus Development, and Compuware.
Veronica Belmont ’04
Belmont is a technology and gaming Internet star who has more than 1.5 million followers on Twitter.
Belmont is a technology and gaming video host based out of San Francisco. Her current projects include Tekzilla (a weekly tech help and how-to show on Revision3.com); Game On! on the TWiT Network; and The Sword and Laser, a science fiction and fantasy podcast and community, co-hosted with Tom Merritt. She has also written for Slate, DoubleX, MaximumPC, and PC Gamer, and was the original host of Qore on the PlayStation Network.
Belmont initially made her mark as a producer and on-air talent for CNET Networks (now CBS Interactive). She worked on such shows as Buzz Out Loud, MP3 Insider, Crave, and Prizefight. In 2007, she left CNET to host the eclectic video show Mahalo Daily, which was named one of the top new podcasts in 2008 on iTunes.
Jason Castriota ’97
Castriota is a world renowned concept car designer.
Castriota is an automobile designer known for designing the Maserati GranTurismo, among several other automobiles. Most recently, he was design director for Saab Automobile overseeing all exterior and interior automobile design at the company.
Castriota began his career in car design in 2001 by joining Pininfarina’s design studio in Turin, Italy. Pininfarina is the most famous of the Italian coach builders, developing concept or show cars and designing production models for Ferrari and Maserati.
Castriota hails from New York and graduated from Emerson in 1997 before attending the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. In June 2011, Castriota was named one of Fast Company magazine’s 100 Most Creative People in Business.
Gregory tells grads to learn resilience
More than 1,000 degrees were conferred at Emerson’s 132nd Commencement exercises, held May 15 at the Citi Performing Arts Center in Boston.
Renowned journalist and moderator of Meet the Press David Gregory delivered the 2012 undergraduate Commencement address during the morning ceremony, at which more than 750 bachelor’s degrees were awarded.
Renowned journalist David Gregory's 2012 undergraduate Commencement address
Gregory started off his speech on a humorous note, “You want my advice today?" he asked "Stay exactly where you are. This is no time to be leaving the safety and the fun of Emerson College …Here is my simple prescription, tell whoever is responsible for funding your education that you are not leaving this campus until and unless Congress passes the Simpson Bowles debt reduction deal," (a nod to the partisan gridlock in Washington).
On a more serious note, he told graduates “it’s important to go out into the world and learn how to be resilient.” He discovered that lesson early on, he said. Through growing up with a mother who was an alcoholic, he learned how to be self-reliant and resilient, out of necessity. “In the dark places I found my drive to be a journalist and the will to guide myself even when it was tough," he said. "You’re going to have tough days ahead too. You’re going to struggle and you will fail... And the problem is not failing, but the test is how do you respond when that happens?” His mother, too, showed him the power of resilience: she has now been sober for decades.
Gregory also told Emersonians to “remember the importance of working as part of a team, and remember to value other points of view even if you don’t agree.” Appreciating different viewpoints is a problem in our media, and a problem in our politics, he said, and he charged Emerson students to change that in the future.
Receiving honorary degrees at the ceremony today were Gregory; Pulitzer Prize–winning playwright Tony Kushner, entrepreneur and makeup artist Bobbi Brown ’79, and three–time U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky. Additionally, retiring Visual and Media Arts faculty member Stephen Shipps was honored with professor emeritus status.
At the afternoon ceremony, for graduate students, Kushner, who is most famous for his play Angels in America, delivered the keynote address to 250 degree recipients. He spoke about the difficult times that today’s graduates will face upon entering the work world, and asked them to, especially in an election year, take their “jobs” as citizens seriously. “The market for our jobs as citizens is red hot,” he said. “Your citizen job will take you to extraordinary places. It will change the way you do any other job you do. Be a citizen. Be a passionate, engaged citizen,” he implored.
Playwright Tony Kushner's 2012 graduate Commencement address
Writing for Film and Television major James “Jamie” Spetner ’12 was the student selected to speak at the undergraduate ceremony. Journalist Nadia Zaffar, MA ’12, was the graduate student speaker.
Receptions for students, families, and faculty were held after both ceremonies on the Boston Common.
watch more emerson college commencement 2012 videoS
Watch honorary degree recipients receive their degrees:
Emerson alumnus, trustee, and benefactor Max Mutchnick ’87 was recently interviewed on CBS This Morning about the role that the hit series he co-created, Will and Grace, played in changing public perceptions of gay and lesbian relationships.
Max Mutchnick '87 is the co-creator of Will & Grace.
In the interview, Mutchnick said that while he and his creative partner are glad if the show had an impact on society, that was not their intent. “We were not activists,” Mutchnick said. “It was a happy accident if it had a social impact. Our job was to make people laugh and to entertain.”
This year’s class valedictorian honors go to not one, but two students from the Communication Studies Department. Alejandro “Alex” Castillo, a Political Communication major, and Emma Krause, a Communication Studies major, will both be graduating at the top of their class with 3.98 GPAs on Monday, May 14.
“Those of us in the Department of Communication Studies are very proud of Emma and Alex, and we’re particularly delighted to see both of our majors, Political Communication and Communication Studies, represented with this incredible honor,” said Department of Communication Studies Chair Richard West. “By any standard, both Alex and Emma were class leaders, always willing to express thoughtful insights, offering others guidance when they were floundering, and dedicated to the mission of Emerson.”
Castillo, originally from Ventura, California, came to Emerson as a transfer student in his sophomore year. He was looking to find a socially committed community and immediately got involved on campus. He was a member of the Communication Politics and Law Association (CPLA) for three years, and spent the past year as the organization’s president, participating in a documentary project in Iceland, making annual trips to Washington, D.C., and New York, and helping plan campus programming on education and civic engagement. CPLA was named Organization of the Year at the Emerson Recognition and Achievement Awards this year.
Alex Castillo
Castillo was also the assistant director of Project Medellin-Boston. Through that group, he helped organize two art exhibitions that brought young artists from Colombia to Boston to present their artwork, and he traveled to Colombia to help organize a documentary project. Additionally, he was an orientation leader for two years, and worked in various roles in the Admission Office for the past three years. He also studied abroad in Florence, Italy last spring.
Besides his many campus roles, Castillo similarly kept busy off campus, interning for U.S. Senator Kirk as well as NBC Boston. He is currently interning for radio program The World, a collaboration of the BBC and WGBH, where he will be staying on as a producer this summer.
“Emerson is not a place where you can idly get by,” said Castillo. “You get as much as you put in, and I feel like I have put in everything that I possibly could have. I channeled all my resources into international affairs and social advocacy.”
It’s Castillo’s plan to continue to work in those arenas in his post-Emerson life.
Co-valedictorian Emma Krause was also very involved on campus. Besides her major in Communication Studies, the Toronto, Canada, native picked up two minors, in Literature and in Political Science, which she said "shaped [her] Emerson experience quite a bit." She worked on the student literary magazine Emerson Review for two years, had a radio show on ETIN, and was a member of the Shakespeare Society.
Emma Krause
But what Krause calls her “main claim to fame” was her three-year involvement with the Emerson College Quidditch team. She spent one of those years as the organization’s marketing director, and another as its commissioner. “It was a fabulous experience and learning opportunity,” she said. “I managed a 250-person organization, with a $35,000 budget. I pretty much got to run a small nonprofit while I was in college.”
Krause also took part in Emerson’s Washington, D.C., program last fall, where she had the opportunity to intern at the Mexican Embassy. Other internships she has had during the course of her college career include working for the Esplanade Association; for M+R Strategic Services; and for Governor Deval Patrick’s PAC, called Together PAC, where she has lined up a job as grassroots and communications coordinator upon graduation.
She is excited about her new job and about living in Boston while her brother is also in the city; he will follow in his sister’s footsteps and begin the Communication Studies program at Emerson in the fall. Eventually, Krause plans to attend graduate school and pursue a career in international relations.
Emerson to install large, outdoor artwork
Emerson will install a near football field-length design around the scaffolding outside the Little Building this weekend, depending on the weather. Curated by Visual and Media Arts Lois and Henry Foster Chair Joe Ketner, the project will transform the current scaffolding at the corner of Tremont and Boylston streets into a work of art.
A design will be installed on the scaffolding at the corner of Tremont and Boylston Streets.
Ketner chose a dynamic design by Yoon Lee to wrap around the scaffolding. Lee develops her compositions by bringing together elements as diverse as images that she’s compiled from popular media, her own sketches, and photographs she’s taken of man-made structures. She scans all of these elements into the computer and uses various filtering mechanisms to manipulate the forms and capture the sense of motion in them. She attempts to convey the sense of chaotic activity, speed, and intensity of contemporary life—not only in the physical world, but also as experienced in the digital realm.
Spears named Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion
President Lee Pelton announced today that Dr. Sylvia Spears has been named Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion. Currently Assistant Vice President for Academic Initiatives at New England College, Spears will begin her Emerson career on August 1, 2012.
“Sylvia brings to this position 20 years of experience in higher education and a substantial background in providing leadership for programs related to diversity, educational and workplace equity, community building, and inclusion,” President Pelton said. “She also has a depth of experience in student affairs as well as academic affairs, so we are very excited to have attracted her to Emerson,” he added.
Sylvia Spears is Emerson's new Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion.
As the chief diversity and inclusion officer for the College, Spears will develop and implement programs and policies that reflect and enhance the College’s mission while extending its commitment to diversity, inclusion, and civility. She will lead efforts to achieve the College’s goals related to faculty and staff hiring and retention; curricular innovation; student recruitment and success; campus climate; external relationships and partnerships; and building a stronger campus community.
In addition to directing the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Spears also will be a member of the President’s Council and will chair Emerson’s Diversity Council.
“I am thrilled to join the Emerson community as we work to expand the College’s commitment to diversity, inclusion, and civility,” Spears said. “I believe Emerson is uniquely poised to innovate in this area and I look forward to working with members of the community on this very important work,” she said.
Before joining New England College, Spears spent more than four years at Dartmouth College in a variety of roles of increasing responsibility.
She began her Dartmouth service in 2007 as Associate Dean of Student Life and Director of the Office of Pluralism and Leadership (OPAL), providing administrative, financial, and supervisory oversight of numerous departments including the Center for Women and Gender, the Office of Asian and Asian-American Advising, the Office of Black Student Advising, International Student Programs, the Office of Latino/a Advising, the Office of LGBT Advising, and the Native American Program. In 2008–09, she was appointed Acting Senior Associate Dean of Dartmouth College, overseeing academic support services and serving as the Dean’s principal advisor on matters related to diversity and campus climate. The following year, she accepted the President’s offer to serve as Dean of Dartmouth College, an interim position that she held two years.
Between 1996 and 2007, Spears worked in a variety of capacities at the University of Rhode Island, including as an Assistant Professor of Human Development and Family Studies (2004–2007), and a lecturer in the same department (1999–2004), during which time she taught graduate and undergraduate courses. She also served for nearly two years as the Interim Affirmative Action Officer. She previously had held positions at Bryant College and with the Narragansett Indian Tribe.
Spears is a highly sought-after consultant and speaker. She is widely regarded as an effective champion for diversity, inclusion, and excellence in education. She holds a BA in Speech Communications, an MS in Human Development and Family Studies with a focus in student affairs, and a PhD in Education, all from the University of Rhode Island.
President Pelton thanked the Search Committee, which was chaired by Professor Mike Brown, and included Gloria Noronha-Peschau, Alexa Jackson, William Gilligan, MJ Knoll-Finn, Stanford Nance, Phillip Glenn, Diego Salazar, Ron Ludman, and Robbie McCauley.
In addition, he offered special thanks to Gloria Noronha-Peschau, who oversaw the the Office of Diversity and Inclusion since Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Gwen Bates retired in the fall of 2011.
5/17/12 7:30 pm - 9:15 pm Paramount Center Paramount Center Mainstage
Take an extraordinary journey through Leonard Bernstein's life and career. Rooted in Boston history, this longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, composer of acclaimed works like Candide, West Side Story, On the Town and Mass and Tanglewood icon broke through every artistic ceiling possible to become the world's musical ambassador. Award-winning actor, playwright and concert pianist Hershey Felder (George Gershwin Alone) returns to Boston with his latest composer creation, Maestro: Leonard Bernstein. Conductor, composer, pianist, author, teacher, librettist, television star...for Leonard Bernstein, boundaries simply did not exist.
5/18/12 8:00 pm - 9:45 pm Paramount Center Paramount Center Mainstage
Take an extraordinary journey through Leonard Bernstein's life and career. Rooted in Boston history, this longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, composer of acclaimed works like Candide, West Side Story, On the Town and Mass and Tanglewood icon broke through every artistic ceiling possible to become the world's musical ambassador. Award-winning actor, playwright and concert pianist Hershey Felder (George Gershwin Alone) returns to Boston with his latest composer creation, Maestro: Leonard Bernstein. Conductor, composer, pianist, author, teacher, librettist, television star...for Leonard Bernstein, boundaries simply did not exist.
Neighboring Sounds (O Som Ao Redor); Boston Premiere!
5/18/12 8:15 pm - 10:15 pm Paramount Center Bright Family Screening Room
Festival Focus
2012, Brazil From its sophisticated and aurally keen opening sequence, film programmer, critic and now-director Kleber Mendonça Filho's gripping debut is assured and audacious—unmistakably a breakout film. A private security firm is hired to police the streets of a middle-class neighborhood in present-day Brazil, their presence the catalyst for Neighboring Sounds' exploration of a culture seething with discontents and anxiety, "the palpable unease of a society that remains unreconciled to its troubled past and present inequities" (FSLC). Friday night's screening is presented by the Consulate-General of Brazil in Boston. Special thanks to Deputy Consul Gabriela Guimarães Gazzinelli.
5/19/12 8:00 pm - 9:45 pm Paramount Center Paramount Center Mainstage
Take an extraordinary journey through Leonard Bernstein's life and career. Rooted in Boston history, this longtime music director of the New York Philharmonic, composer of acclaimed works like Candide, West Side Story, On the Town and Mass and Tanglewood icon broke through every artistic ceiling possible to become the world's musical ambassador. Award-winning actor, playwright and concert pianist Hershey Felder (George Gershwin Alone) returns to Boston with his latest composer creation, Maestro: Leonard Bernstein. Conductor, composer, pianist, author, teacher, librettist, television star...for Leonard Bernstein, boundaries simply did not exist.
5/19/12 8:30 pm - 10:15 pm Paramount Center Bright Family Screening Room
Festival Focus
2011, Norway Norwegian director Joachim Trier made his feature debut in 2006 with Reprise, which received numerous international awards and earned Trier's selection as one of Variety's 10 Directors to Watch at Sundance. Oslo, August 31st, Trier's second feature, premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard section last year, took top prize at the Stockholm International Film Festival and was selected for the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the Museum of Modern Art's 2012 New Directors/New Films festival.
5/25/12 6:45 pm - 8:00 pm Paramount Center Bright Family Screening Room
Festival Focus
2011, France Winner of the Grand Prize at !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival and awarded Best First Feature at the Locarno Film Festival, Nana is "as disturbing as it is poetic, a quicksilver piece of pure cinema… [as] adventurous as any" at Locarno (Robert Koehler, MUBI). Filmed in the director's native Perche region, the film is a mysterious, intimate fable whose center is four-year-old Nana, who lives with her mostly absent mother in a country farmhouse. Left to fend for herself in a world not impervious to the surrounding forces of nature and death, Nana fills her solitude with the play and discovery of her own expansive imagination—feeding and dressing herself with an innocent fortitude depicted poignantly but without a drop of sentimentality by the camera's candid, steady gaze.
5/26/12 8:00 pm - 9:15 pm Paramount Center Bright Family Screening Room
Festival Focus
2011, France Winner of the Grand Prize at !f Istanbul International Independent Film Festival and awarded Best First Feature at the Locarno Film Festival, Nana is "as disturbing as it is poetic, a quicksilver piece of pure cinema… [as] adventurous as any" at Locarno (Robert Koehler, MUBI). Filmed in the director's native Perche region, the film is a mysterious, intimate fable whose center is four-year-old Nana, who lives with her mostly absent mother in a country farmhouse. Left to fend for herself in a world not impervious to the surrounding forces of nature and death, Nana fills her solitude with the play and discovery of her own expansive imagination—feeding and dressing herself with an innocent fortitude depicted poignantly but without a drop of sentimentality by the camera's candid, steady gaze.
5/30/12 7:00 pm - 9:00 pm Paramount Center Paramount Center Mainstage
From Broadway to London's West End and theatres across the U.S., this celebrated one-man play about the legendary American composer who "made a lady out of jazz" now returns to Boston! In the award-winning George Gershwin Alone, internationally-acclaimed actor, playwright and Steinway concert artist Hershey Felder renders an intimate portrait of the legendary composer that provides a personal glimpse into Gershwin's early years, his personal life and his artistic genius. The evening is packed with many of Gershwin's most famous pieces, including "I Got Rhythm," "Someone to Watch Over Me," and a complete performance of "Rhapsody in Blue."
Use your mapping website of choice to get directions to the Boston Common Garage or any of the garages listed on our parking page, and follow the walking directions.
by Public Transportation
Visit the MBTA website for detailed directions and trip planning information.
Green Line
Take the Green Line to Boylston Station. Exit and walk to the corner of Tremont and Boylston streets (toward Dunkin' Donuts) and look for the purple and gold banners alongside Emerson’s buildings.
Red Line
Take the Red Line to Park Street Station and transfer to the Green Line heading toward Boylston Station (follow the Green Line directions above).
Blue Line
Take the Blue Line to Government Center Station and transfer to the Green Line heading toward Boylston Station (follow the Green Line directions above).
Orange Line
Take the Orange Line to Chinatown Station. Exit onto Washington and Boylston streets and walk one block along Boylston toward Boston Common (toward Dunkin' Donuts).
Directions by Rail
Boston's South Station is served by Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rails originating from the west and south of Boston. Once inside the station, look for stairs to the subway (the T). Take the Red Line inbound to Park Street Station and transfer to the Green Line heading toward Boylston Station.
Boston's North Station is served by MBTA Commuter Rails originating from east and north of Boston. Follow the signs in North Station to the Green Line and take it inbound to Boylston Station.
Directions by Air
From Logan Airport
Outside any terminal at Boston’s Logan International Airport, board the #22 or #33 Massport Shuttle Bus to the MBTA Blue Line station. Take the Blue Line inbound to Government Center Station and transfer to the Green Line heading toward Boylston Station. Visit the MASSPORT: Logan Airport site or the MBTA website for more information.
Parking
Emerson does not have parking facilities and street parking is extremely limited.
The Boston Common Garage is located several blocks from the Emerson campus. The entrance is on Charles Street between Boston Common and Boston Public Garden. Phone: 617-954-2098 or 617-954-2096 (automated information). Walking directions from the garage to Emerson.
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