Most of the following articles in this edition come from the 2024 Utah College Media Collaborative. This project was sponsored by Amplify Utah and PBS Utah, and sought to create a collaboration between Weber State University, University of Utah, Utah State University and Salt Lake Community College. These schools came together and selected the theme of guns on the college campus for this project. Three of our students participated in this program, and these are their experiences with it.

Megan Swann

Talking about guns on college campuses is never easy. I understood this going into the project, yet I was still surprised how difficult it was to create our interview videos. Many people declined being in the video, either because they didn’t know enough about the topic or because they felt uncomfortable talking about it.

I think my biggest takeaway from this project is that we need to have more healthy conversations about access to guns on college campuses. With strong opinions to past traumatic experiences, it will always be an uncomfortable topic; however, simply not talking about it is not the solution. I hope that viewers of this collaborative move forward with that in mind.

Marianna Lopez

Being part of a project like this is so inspiring and important because we can give a voice to the students who can’t. PBS has been a wonderful experience that allowed us to show our talents and passion for journalism. Sometimes harsh topics are hard to address, but PBS gave us the opportunity to talk about it.

Being part of the team as a translator means so much to me because it allows me to get to more people and communities by breaking the language barrier. Guns on campus is an important aspect of our security that every student needs to know about no matter the background or language they talk to.

Brisa Odenthal

Guns and gun safety, especially as it relates to schools, is a topic that many people in my age group have had drilled into their heads. Through this PBS collaborative I have gotten the opportunity to learn a lot about Utah’s gun laws and the perspectives on this of my fellow college students.

My biggest takeaway from the project is that transparency about gun-related legislation is something Utah needs. Most of the students we interviewed were not aware of Utah’s concealed carry policy, and that’s a problem. To create the safest environment, mentally and physically, for these students, there needs to be more awareness and honesty about these policies.