SUU First Utah University to be Featured on The College Tour

David Bishop, SUU News |August 19, 2021

Ten Southern Utah University students share their unique stories of success on The College Tour, a new national TV series created by Emmy-nominated and multi-award-winning producers. The episode featuring SUU debuts this week through streaming platforms and on the University’s YouTube channel.

“With the impact of COVID-19 restricting prospective students’ ability to visit our campus, we decided to bring SUU to them,” said Nikki Koontz, associate vice president for Marketing Communication at SUU. “When we were approached by the series producers to do an episode, I immediately knew we had to jump on this incredible opportunity. The 30-minute program not only tells the story of SUU through the lens of ten remarkable students, it highlights the very best aspects of our university – our faculty, staff, administration and the absolute beauty of our campus.”

The program features segments hosted by SUU students Tiffany Chin, Skyler Clark, Hadley Cowan, Jessica Eddington, Dominique Erwin, Daviann Kauweloa, Nouman Kante, Sam Nelson, Preston Rivera, and Jordan Simmons. Each student shares their path to and time at SUU from Tiffany Chin’s experience as a first-generation college student, Preston Rivera’s transition from U.S. Army explosive ordnance technician to student and Nouman Kante’s journey from Mali West Africa to Cedar City, Utah.

All ten student participants were excited to share their SUU experience on the program.

“There is no other school where you will feel like you have a second home,” said SUU student Hadley Cowan. “I’ve talked to so many people who felt uncertain about college but as soon as they walked in and they talked to a professor or student, they felt like there was someone who cared about them. They weren’t just a number, they were a student with a background, goals, and potential.

The program is hosted by Alex Boylan, an Emmy-nominated television personality and producer, most recognizable as a past winner of “The Amazing Race.” Boylan created The College Tour after witnessing a young relative’s experience in deciding which university to attend.

“The idea for The College Tour TV series came to me from my 16-year-old niece. Because of the pandemic and finances, she wasn’t able to travel to tour colleges,” said Boylan. “So using our skills as executive producers we created a series inspired by her and millions of other young people who are interested in attending college. This series is so fun to produce!”

SUU is the first university in Utah to be featured on the program and the tenth college highlighted from across the country.

The College Tour SUU episode debuted Wednesday during an on-campus watch party and then a virtual event later that night.

The program can be seen in a variety of locations including SUU’s YouTube channel, The College Tour Roku channel and later this fall on Amazon Prime.