By Neelah McCarthy '27
The Rebirth Project, a multimedia platform and community for creatives of underrepresented identities, celebrated its 10 year anniversary on April 17 in the Communications Hub located in the Integrative Learning Center. The anniversary celebration brought together current staff, alumni, and campus community members to reflect on Rebirth’s history and its next chapter.
The event featured the launch of Rebirth’s spring zine and welcomed three guest speakers: Dr. Linda Chavers, Afnan Nehela, and Paris Alston. The celebration highlighted the decade of student-led storytelling, arts coverage, and community building on campus.
The guest speakers detailed their experiences, offered advice to students looking to break into media related careers, and shared their hopes for the future of Rebirth.
“I really hope it grows and grows,” Nehela said.“And for the department to see it as something that is here to stay.”
Founded in 2016, The Rebirth Project emerged during the first Trump presidency to create a safe space for students of color during a time when many felt isolated. Co-editor-in-chief and senior journalism major Maanasa Dhavala described Rebirth as a reimagining of the Drum, which was a Black student-run magazine at UMass in the 1960s. She emphasized how Rebirth serves not only as a creative outlet but also as a support system.
“It’s a space for me to find a community and really interact with other creatives and people who feel strongly about writing and the arts,” Dhavala said.
For alum Christmaelle Vernet ‘25, who served as editor-in-chief for three years, Rebirth’s mission has always been about community building as much as it is about publishing works.
“When I started, I wanted it to be more student-centered and community-based,” Vernet said. “It was always that, but I really wanted it to be not only just a paper, but also a place where students could feel comfortable.”
Vernet went on to highlight Rebirth’s cultural approach to arts journalism and its roots as a literary magazine.
“What was very important to me is a cultural focus; art is a cultural focus,” she said. “Like covering events in a way that has never been seen before and bringing back to our roots of being a literary magazine.”
As Rebirth marks a decade on campus, both Vernet and Dhavala pointed to its longevity as proof of the need for identity-affirming creative spaces on campus.
“Just seeing that we’re still here and we’re able to cultivate it and that it’s been able to stay a thing for 10 years just shows the importance of having these spaces on campus and not giving up on them,” Vernet said.
Vernet noted that the milestone comes after years of uncertainty, including periods with limited funding and staffing.
“The fact that we are celebrating 10 years is a huge milestone, because there were many times where we didn’t have as much funding or enough members,” she said.
Dhavala echoed that sentiment.
“It represents the fact that something like this, which feels like such a niche and specific outlet on this campus, can still flourish and can survive for 10 years,” she said.