The Evolution of Emersion

A group of students from the Fall 2023 Emersion Class gather for a photo at the end of the 7-week program.
A group of students from the Fall 2023 Emersion Class gather for a photo at the end of the 7-week program.

Emersion is a first-year course that helps incoming Emerson students adapt to the changes of starting college in Boston. Facilitated by staff and student peer mentors, Emersion takes place in the summer, fall, and spring through a meticulously designed seven-week program that meets twice a week. The facilitators work with the peer mentors to plan out each class, grade work, and lead discussions..

The program stemmed from a pre-existing program called STAR, which stood for “Students Taking Active Roles.” STAR was a residential program for first-year students in the Little Building that offered participants the opportunity to take on roles in the community.

One of the biggest disadvantages of this program was that it was limited to one residential floor; therefore, only a limited number of students could participate.

Seth Grue (Student Success), one of the founders of Emersion, explained, “In 2017, there was a meeting with members of Student Affairs, Enrollment Management, and Academic Affairs, talking about how we [could] take what was a successful program [STAR] and move it forward. We wanted to have more people be exposed to the benefits of it, and really kind of grow the program from there.”

This group came up with the idea for Emersion—and over several years of development, they founded the current Emersion program.

“[Emersion] is really focused on allowing students to connect with each other, allowing students to connect with a peer mentor, and allowing students to connect with a facilitator who is not otherwise connected with their Emerson experience.” said Grue.

The increase in the number of participants shows the impact that this course has had on students. In the first year of the program in 2017, according to Grue, 93 students completed the program. This past year, 758 students completed Emersion, which brings the total number of participants to date to 3,200.

Grue said that the benefits of the program are vast. “We recognize that students who complete Emersion are more likely to stay at the College. We also recognize that they feel like they are more ingrained into the community at Emerson. Finally, they also know where to go if they have concerns, or where to go if they have questions, and know how to get more involved.”

Students from Grue’s first cohort of Emersion students continued to get in touch throughout their time at Emerson, demonstrating that this program builds strong connections among Emerson community members.

As Grue said, “Every single time I teach Emersion, I learn something new and I get better at what I do in my role. There’s an opportunity to be able to step out of our roles at the institution, and Emersion gives staff that opportunity.”

Interested in becoming a facilitator? Contact Seth Grue.

Vani Hanimirian ’26