Fifty years after its founding, Emerson marked the milestone with a full week of events bringing together alumni from every decade of the institution’s history — from its very first graduating class to students who walked the stage just months ago.
The week opened with a panel of alumni spanning five decades, each sharing how their time at Emerson shaped their careers in wildly different fields — from architecture to public policy to entrepreneurship. “It was strange hearing someone describe the exact same building I study in now, but as it looked fifty years ago,” said one current student who attended the panel.
Later events included open studio nights, where current students showcased work-in-progress projects to visiting alumni, and a closing dinner that raised funds for the scholarship program launched earlier this year. Organizers estimate over 600 alumni took part across the week, many returning to campus for the first time in years.
“Fifty years in, the buildings have changed and the technology has changed,” said one long-serving faculty member at the closing event. “What hasn’t changed is why people choose to come here in the first place.”
