Courtney TannerSitting in my parents’ drafty basement a few weekends ago, I tried to sort through the school papers that my mom had saved from my elementary days.
Every assignment or test or scrap I’d ever scribbled on was there. One report card said I wrote too many stories when I needed to work on other things, like math. Who is going to tell my sweet teacher how that turned out?
Buried in the stacks and boxes, I found a list from third grade about what I wanted to be when I grew up. There were three spots to list future jobs. I was so sure of my answer that I only filled out one.
“I like detectives and writing, so I guess I will be a newspaper reporter because they do both of those things,” I wrote.
A young Courtney Tanner, who knew even in third grade she wanted to be a reporter.
Now, 20 years later, I’m a reporter at The Salt Lake Tribune, where I cover a bit of everything with an eye on higher education.
Over the past year, I’ve investigated how the University of Utah responded to concerns from international student Zhifan Dong before she was killed; it’s a case that has echoed the mistakes made in responding to Lauren McCluskey three years earlier.
I requested records on how Brigham Young University police handled allegations of racist slurs yelled at a volleyball game. That reporting uncovered that the individual who was banned by the school didn’t shout anything at the players.
I’ve also talked to students at Utah State University about their experiences with sexual assault and retaliation, continuing after the school was investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice.
These stories came from a little bit of detective work, a passion for holding institutions accountable and a third grader’s dream.
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