Disclaimer: The Bacon is the April Fool’s Edition of The Beacon. The following story is purely for entertainment and is NOT meant to be taken as a serious news story!

The Executive Board of The Beacon, MCLA’s Student Newspaper, were arrested for allegedly hazing staff members and abusing their power.

Nicole Lemire, Jillian Currier, Sarah Tomczyk, and Lily Richard, all seniors, were taken into custody by the North Adams Police Department on the evening of March 27. The NAPD received a tip from the mother of one of the hazing victims, who claimed that she was worried about the well-being of her child, stating that her son had called her after a Beacon staff meeting in tears. Following this, the NAPD launched an investigation and several witnesses came forward supporting the claims.

The accused students are currently being held at the Berkshire House of Corrections and are awaiting their trial. In an exclusive, behind bars interview with The Bacon, all four women denied their involvement in hazing and claimed that they were being framed.

The Beacon serves as both a club and a class at MCLA, in which students can produce news content to be published in either the newspaper or on the Beacon Web News Youtube channel. The Executive Board of The Beacon are the leadership of the club, who are responsible for giving weekly story assignments and managing the staff. However, since the arrests, several staff members of The Beacon have publicly spoken about the mistreatment that they endured at the hands of the E-Board.

“My experience on The Beacon was initially positive, but then the E-Board started abusing their power,” said Beacon Social Media Manager Jaden Jackson ‘26 in an emotional interview with The Bacon. “They made me act like their personal servant. One week, my assignment wasn’t even a story, it was just to do Jill’s laundry. Another time, Nicole made me carry her to class because her foot fell asleep.”

“I joined Beacon Web News because I thought it would be a fun learning experience,” said BWN Reporter Deni Rizvic ‘25. “But instead of assigning us normal packages, Sarah started making all of us film and edit videos for her personal Youtube account [@cocosarah22]. One day, I questioned why we were doing that instead of actual news content, and she threw a microphone at my head.”

“My job at The Beacon is to edit everyone’s stories and make sure that there are no errors,” said Copy Editor and Columnist Macayla Flanigan ‘23. “I mentioned to Lily that I had to make a few edits to a story that she wrote, and she accused me of calling her a bad journalist and dumped her drink on my head. As if that’s not bad enough, she was drinking a smoothie. Do you know how long it took to wash it all out of my hair?”

As a result of these actions, the college has made the decision to put an end to The Beacon and allow a fresh start for its journalism students to move forward from this traumatizing time. Therefore, The Beacon will now be known as The Bacon, a news source with a zero tolerance policy for hazing. The position of Editor-in-Chief, formerly held by Currier and Lemire, will be filled by Maple the Campus Support Dog, while Murdock the Mascot will be replacing Tomczyk as BWN Executive Producer. Richard’s position of Arts and Entertainment Editor has yet to be filled. Anyone interested in this position should contact Editor-in-Chief Maple or Bacon adviser Darren Johnson.

Due to The Bacon’s dedication to providing MCLA students with the most exciting and relevant news, the trials of Currier, Lemire, Tomczyk, and Richard will live streamed on theonlinebacon.com on April 8, 2023 at 2 P.M. Be sure to tune in!