UM students star in ‘The College Tour’ on Amazon Prime
Members of an Amazon TV crew film student Nate LaCorte as he shares his experiences as a Griz during filming for the UM episode of "The College Tour."
University of Montana students take center stage in the latest episode of “The College Tour,” an Emmy-nominated series that showcases college campuses through the eyes of those who know it best: the students.
UM’s 50-minute episode features 20 students sharing their diverse personal experiences as Grizzlies. The episode launches on Amazon Prime streaming services on Feb. 8 and is available on UM’s YouTube channel. UM is the first school in Montana to be featured in the series.
The cast represents in-state and out-of-state undergraduate and graduate students from several majors and student organizations, including:
Arwen Baxter, a recent Rhodes Scholar finalist, musical theatre and English literature major. But she also dabbles in ecology and kayaking.
Grizzly soccer player Camellia Xu is Big Sky Conference goalkeeper of the year and helped led her team to the Big Sky Championship title in 2021.
Military veteran and ROTC Grizzly Battalion member Nate LaCorte moved west from Indiana and is completing his finance degree debt-free.
In just her sophomore year, ceramics student Abbe Watson is president of the Black Student Union, a UM student group founded in the 1970s.
Jesse Storment started by taking her general education credits at Missoula College, and now she’s enrolled in the school’s top-ranked nursing program.
Addie Slanger arrived on campus knowing she wanted to be a journalist. Now, in her senior year, she’s editor-in-chief of the Montana Kaimin.
Zachariah Rides at the Door is keeping Native language and culture alive through his studies in anthropology and Native American studies, and as president of the Kyiyo Club.
Billings native Shea Dolan grew up a Griz and now she’s a pharmacy student and member of the Davidson Honors College.
"We are so proud of these students for sharing their stories of creativity, courage and Griz spirit and we are thrilled that the University of Montana is the first Montana school in the ‘The College Tour’ series,” said Jenny Petty, UM vice president for marketing and communications.
“This episode will give students and families all over the world the chance to see our stunning campus location and learn about life as a Griz.”A film crew from “The College Tour” visited campus in September and filmed student segments over nine days while also collecting footage of campus, the season’s first fall home football game and scenes from downtown Missoula, the Clark Fork River, Pattee Canyon and more.
UM’s episode is included in Season 3 of “The College Tour.” Among dozens of other schools featured in the series are Arizona State University, University of Oregon, Sam Houston State and UC Davis.
"The College Tour” is the brainchild of host Alex Boylan, who was part of the winning team on the second season of the reality TV show “The Amazing Race.” With each episode of “The College Tour,” Boylan takes viewers to a different university to show what campus life is really like, told through the voices of actual students.
“The idea for ‘The College Tour’ TV series came to me from my niece. Because of the pandemic and finances, she wasn’t able to travel to tour colleges,” Boylan said. “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.”
Find UM’s episode of the “The College Tour” on the UM website, UM’s YouTube channel, “The College Tour” website and mobile app, and Amazon Prime streaming services.