News and Awards

Diego Cortez has a deep relationship with tattoos. Inked artwork on his body has played a major role in his life, he said, from his incarceration to his current association as a staff member with The Other Side Academy, a free life skills school for adults who have struggled with addiction, incarceration and homelessness.

Salt Lake City has a large recovery community, with even more communities hidden within it. For many, like Clay Josewski, a former addict and now staff member at The Other Side Academy, music has become an impactful and transformative experience.

The crowd erupts in screams and cheers after each set. Pop music blares during timeouts and team huddles, prompting fans to stand up and dance. About 3,000 fans pack Bruin Arena at Salt Lake Community College on this Saturday night for Salt Lake City's final game of the inaugural season of LOVB Pro, the nation's newest professional volleyball league.

At Salt Lake City’s Derby Depot, where music ranges from fat P-Funk bass grooves to buzzsaw punk chords, a jammer glides smoothly around the bend.

The Glendale Middle School field stirs with the excited sounds of cheering and shouting on a warm, sunny late March afternoon. The spring season is underway for the Majestics Girls Rugby Club, so they’re not letting the nice day slip away. They’re spending it hard at work, running drills on their West Salt Lake City practice grounds.

The first time that University of Utah basketball assistant coach Dasia Young saw Lindsey Kirschman, the reaction was visceral. “When I first seen her, I was like ‘dang, she’s jacked, like she’s ripped,’” Young said. It’s not easy to create a body that looks like that. It’s even harder to maintain it at 37 years old. But Kirschman loves a challenge.

It’s 9:30 a.m. at the Zions Bank Real Academy in Herriman. The building echoes with the rhythmic beat of soccer balls passing back and forth as players for the Utah Royals FC warm up for their preseason practice.

The backstage is scattered with bags, water bottles and weights. Shirtless men sporting colorful spandex outfits pump iron while waiting to be told it’s their turn to enter the ring. An operator watches real-time footage of the match outside, waiting to cue the wrestlers that it’s their time to fight.

Maile O’Keefe stands at the edge of the mat behind the vault, stilettos digging into the soft flooring. Paired with crimson billowing slacks and a crisp, button-down white shirt, the look is a distinct shift from the sparkly leotards she wore as a Utah gymnast the previous five seasons. A year after finishing her bachelor’s degree, the former 2023 NCAA all-around champion, dubbed the “beam queen” for her winning record in the balance event, O’Keefe now works for the University of Utah’s Red Rocks as a student coach.

The murder of George Floyd by a police officer in May 2020 sparked months of Black Lives Matter protests across the U.S. and cast a national spotlight on the interactions between people of color and armed police.

Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign has garnered enthusiasm among young people, but that enthusiasm translating into voter participation remains to be seen.

The Hinckley Institute of Politics and Sutherland Institute kicked off their 2024 Congressional Series with a conversation with Congressman Burgess Owens, where he discussed education policy.

Moore praised the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and said Congress should renew its individual tax cuts expiring in 2025. He also discussed cutting deficit spending and student loan debt.

Maloy advocated for finding a balance between federal and state jurisdiction. She also discussed guidance letters and federal land use.

On Jul. 1 of this year, the U closed several student resource centers. The shutdown of these centers was due to the anti-DEI bill H.B. 261, otherwise known as the “Equal Opportunities Initiative.”

The Armstrong mansion on the corner of 700 East and 100 South in Salt Lake City stands out among the newer, less grand buildings on the block. The Queen Anne style building – complete with a rounded tower and iron-flanked balconies – was built in 1892 for the city’s fifth mayor, Francis Armstrong, and his three wives. It was passed down through the family for a while, becoming apartments, a bed and breakfast. Now, it's the cornerstone building of The Other Side Academy – a free life skills school for adults who have struggled with addiction, incarceration and homelessness.

Not all mentorship is equal. For Tiffany Blair, a graduate of The Other Side Academy, mentorship has taken many forms. There were bad role models, like the man who introduced her to meth at the age of 11, and there were positive role models, like the woman who encouraged her to embrace honesty and take accountability. Born into homelessness and to a mother grappling with addiction, Blair’s early years were marked by instability and neglect, she said, leading to a cycle of low self-esteem and substance abuse.

The Other Side Village is a master-planned community in Salt Lake City that helps people coming out of chronic homelessness to find healing and a life of purposeful living, according to our Village teammate Robbie Myrick. As part of their time at the village, these residents can work at one of the village’s social enterprises, or businesses. One of these enterprises is The Other Side Donuts.

As part of the International Day of Democracy, U students discussed DEI changes in Utah, gerrymandering and political polarization.

Election Day is just around the corner, and this year’s election cycle has been full of twists and turns.