To this day, I still refuse to use the purple heart emoji, and even hesitate to use the butterfly, because to me and so many friends from home, those symbols are a memorial to Alyssa Gelfand: a 17-year-old high schooler from Guilderland, New York who died in a car accident in 2017.

Religious groups on Boston University’s campus have shifted some programming online this Fall, but while university-affiliated Marsh Chapel remains closed, other buildings unaffiliated with BU have kept their doors open.

All  class video recordings from the Spring, Summer and Fall semesters will be temporarily stored by Boston University, Provost Jean Morrison wrote in an email Thursday to all faculty.

Scholar of racism Ibram X. Kendi described in an interview with The Daily Free Press the four prongs of work at the Center for Antiracist Research and said the academic activities that already exist at Boston University can be implemented to bring about change and equality in the greater community.

The Boston University alumnus who created a petition to change the name of the school’s mascot, Rhett, was invited to serve on the committee to consider the matter. After a correspondence with President Robert Brown, during which the alum refused to take down his petition, he was denied a seat.

Arcangelo Cella, who graduated from the School of Law in 2014, created a Change.org petition June 21, asking Boston University to rename its mascot, Rhett. In an interview with The Daily Free Press, Cella shared his views on the controversial associations the film brings to BU’s mascot and overall public image.

After receiving criticism for naming its mascot after the depiction of a character in a racist film, Boston University is forming a committee to consider renaming Rhett the Terrier, President Robert Brown announced in an email Wednesday.

BU’s incoming and graduating students were crossing stages to “pomp and circumstance” this spring, with BU either in hindsight or foresight. But this is now only a romanticized vision as the future fills with uncertainty.

Empty streets, empty shelves and uncertainty about the future — these things are now commonplace across the globe since the outbreak of COVID-19. Fears of the virus spreading have left people quarantined in their homes, staying socially-distant as advised by public health officials and state governors in order to slow the transmission of coronavirus.

FreeP vs. Food is a recurring series, where we send FreeP staffers to food establishments in the Boston University area to try a similar item from each place. We give each place a letter rating based on the quality of the food, the service and the ambiance of the restaurant.

While we’re stuck in quarantine, FreeP editors asked the question: What’s the best homemade mac and cheese?

The coronavirus hit just in time for the religious holidays of Passover, Easter and Ramadan, impacting services and traditions worldwide. Religious communities on campus are finding ways to push through the difficult times of isolation and continuing to support one another online.

Researchers at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at Boston University are taking advantage of their unique facility in the global effort to develop effective vaccines and drug treatments to COVID-19.

Right-brained or left-brained, creative or scientific, imaginative or analytical. Individuals are constantly categorizing their interests and strengths in polarized spheres. But these disciplines aren’t as separate as one may think, and understanding of one can be advantageous in the practice of the other.

The Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground at its new location at 808 Commonwealth Ave, is a 19,000 square-foot newly-renovated student community space that looks contemporary and sleek. But what most students and faculty don’t know is that even the most intricate details in every nook and cranny of the massive space were extremely well thought-out in an attempt to create the most inclusive and accommodating environment for the varying needs of every person on campus.

FreeP vs. Food is a recurring series, where we send four FreeP staffers to four food establishments in the Boston University area to try a similar item from each place. We give each place a letter rating based on the quality of the food, the service and the ambiance of the restaurant. This round, we’re asking the question: Who serves the best grilled cheese around campus?

He stood alone among 600 deniers at the Flat Earther Convention in Denver in November 2018. He listened to all they had to say — all of the evidence and experiments presented by individuals in lab coats. On the second day of the conference, he came out and tried to engage them in conversations, catching them in their own contradictions. 

From line-drying laundry to powering off electronics, making an effort to conserve energy might seem like a hassle. However, an app designed for the BU community aims to make these minor annoyances fun and competitive. 

Halloween, for many Americans, marks the beginning of a holiday season filled with food and desserts. And although they might not be trick-or-treating anymore, college students will likely still indulge in their fair share sweet treats. 

In light of the growing discussion of sustainability initiatives on campus, sustainability@BU hosted a forum Wednesday where co-chairs of the recently formed Zero Waste Implementation Task Force sought to gain key insights from the BU community.

Hakeem Oluseyi has many titles: astrophysicist, educator, author, doctor and first-generation college graduate. As he stood in front of a room of Boston University students on Sept. 17, he shared the experiences he had and struggles he overcame in order to build the career he has. 

In the midst of national headlines about undocumented immigrants and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Northeastern University professor Tiffany Joseph visited Boston University Monday to discuss her research on how factors such as race and culture affect the health care latinx immigrants receive in the United States. 

When you bite into a high quality chocolate bar, there’s a certain crack to it just before it melts in your mouth. Ensuring the chocolate doesn’t melt in one’s hand before you get to this sweet moment, is simply just physics. 

Boston is home to America’s first subway system, which, according to the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, today transports over a million riders a day via its four main subway lines, buses and commuter rail. 

Walk into the New England Aquarium and at the base of the Giant Ocean Tank, there are penguins swimming and lying on the rocks. Lucky visitors who arrive during a feeding time can watch dozens of penguins eagerly awaiting their chance to snatch an anchovy or two, or 10 — sometimes even 18. 

Walk into the BUild Lab, located in the heart of Boston University’s East Campus, and you will enter a space where conversations and creative ideas fill the room behind the glass walls.

Boston-based college students are surrounded each day by leaders striving to reduce their environmental impact. So why don’t most BU students do more than share a socially-conscious posts on Instagram? Here are some ways you can be more eco-friendly while on campus.

Two Boston University professors became part of a historic feat this month, when, along with over 200 researchers from institutions around the world, they helped create the very first image of a black hole.

Activist and entrepreneur Yosef Abramowitz sits down each week to examine his family’s carbon footprint, quantify how many trees it’s worth and pay to have that many trees planted to keep a carbon-neutral home.

Lined up and awaiting their chance to look through the 8-inch reflector telescopes, locals and tourists alike met for Public Open Night at the Observatory on the vernal equinox on March 20.

For years, marine ecosystems have been declining. This alarming trend is affecting fisheries from Massachusetts shorelines to seas across the world.

Music of Reality transported an audience from their seats in Alfred L. Morse Auditorium Friday to the vibrant underwater world of colorful reefs, black anemones and deep whale calls with strokes of piano keys and plucks of a cellist.