From Classroom Assignment to Community Impact: USU Journalism Student Promotes Safety

When Utah State University journalism student Holly Asay began writing an opinion article for a class assignment, she hoped to draw attention to a dangerous intersection in her hometown of Lehi. When a student was struck by a vehicle at the very intersection she was writing about, her classroom assignment suddenly became something more urgent — and an opportunity to put her journalism to work in her own community.

Asay, a mother and student in this semester’s Opinion Writing course in USU’s Department of Communication, was worried about the hundreds of children who cross Timpanogos Highway on their way to and from school each day. The busy intersection at Center Street had long concerned residents, who had been advocating for a pedestrian bridge.

For her assignment, Asay interviewed a school crossing guard, a civil engineer and a Utah Department of Transportation spokesperson. She learned that although officials recognized the safety concerns, overlapping jurisdictions, infrastructure complications and funding challenges had delayed a solution.

In drafts of her assignment, she suggested the situation represented an accident waiting to happen.

Then it happened. A student was struck by a vehicle while crossing the intersection. Fortunately, the child survived with only a fractured wrist.

Asay quickly revised her commentary to incorporate the incident and, with the encouragement of her professor, submitted it to The Daily Herald in Provo. The newspaper published her piece, “Jurisdiction is complicated. Kids still need to cross Timpanogos Highway,” on Oct. 6.

“I understand the challenges,” she wrote. “I accept that Lehi, Alpine School District and UDOT have different responsibilities, budgets and jurisdictions. But kids who walk or bike to school across Timpanogos Highway don’t care about that. They just need a safe way to get to school.”

Just one month later, Lehi City Council member Emily Lockhart announced on social media that the Utah Transportation Commission had approved millions in funding for a pedestrian bridge at the intersection. Combined with additional funds through Lehi City and the Mountainland Association of Governments, the long-awaited bridge had the funding needed to finally be built.

Asay is careful not to claim credit for the outcome.

“My reporting didn’t make the bridge happen,” she said. “Neighbors, public officials and transportation agencies had worked toward a solution for years.”

But her column became part of that larger community conversation, demonstrating how even a classroom assignment can contribute to public understanding of an important local issue.

“This is exactly what we hope students will discover about journalism,” said Matthew LaPlante, an associate professor in Utah State’s Department of Journalism and Communication who teaches the Opinion Writing course. “Holly didn’t just express an opinion. She did the reporting necessary to make that opinion informed, credible, useful and powerful. And she didn’t stop when the assignment was finished. She recognized that her work could serve her community, and she made sure it did.”

LaPlante praised Utah State’s commitment to online and community-engaged education, which allows students like Asay to benefit from educational opportunities and effect change in their own communities, no matter where those communities happen to be. That’s a position shared by the university’s new vice president for statewide and online education, Caleb Simmons.

“Education should not be constrained by location or circumstance but should be a resource that travels with and to students, empowering them to learn, grow, and thrive on their own terms,” Simmons said when his appointment was announced earlier this month.

For Asay, the experience has reinforced why she returned to school.

“I’m a mom, not a traffic engineer or an experienced reporter, but I’m persistent,” she said. “When I went back to school, I wanted to tell stories that matter. It feels good to know I may have played a small part in a larger community effort. It feels even better to know my kids and neighbors will be much safer because of it.”