BATON ROUGE — More than 30 former and current LSU student-athletes represented the Tigers at the Olympics, but they weren’t the only talent LSU sent to the Paris Games. A group of 25 students and professors from LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication were given the opportunity of a lifetime to not only attend the Olympics in Paris, but also cover them as student media members.
The two-week study abroad program, offered by the Manship School, allowed students to travel around France, with stops in Marseille, Lyon, and, of course, Paris. Students were expected to produce online stories, blogs, podcasts, and other digital content based on the stories they developed in France.
Manship School Dean Kim Bissell said students will cover everything from politics and sports to food, fashion, and culture while at the games.
“Not only will they witness this international cultural phenomenon firsthand, but more importantly, they will be part of history in the making,” Bissell said.
UWK reached out and connected with several LSU media students covering the Olympics to hear more about their experiences abroad.
Louis Devita, one of the co-directors of the group’s broadcast team, was tasked with creating video content for LSU’s Tiger TV. Devita attended a beach volleyball match at Eiffel Tower Stadium and watched the U.S. Men’s Soccer team take on France in a match in Marseille, among other events.
“Just being able to be at these Olympic events and have the opportunity to go hands-on, talk to the athletes whenever we get the chance, and being credentialed—it’s just been a great opportunity for us,” Devita said.
Bella Angelos, the social media director for the school’s Olympic project, managed an Instagram account and other social media profiles for the project while in Paris.
She was also at the U.S. Men’s soccer game in Marseille and shared that singing the National Anthem with her classmates was her favorite moment of the two weeks.
“Our entire group was singing, and all of the French fans were watching us,” Angelos said. “They were all smiling and nodding their heads. It was a very wholesome moment. When we were done singing, everyone started clapping—it really was an eye-opening experience to see everyone welcoming each other. It gave me chills.”
Ben Hagan, the director of documentary for the group, is creating a behind-the-scenes film about the students’ experiences in Paris. He also created and is running the school’s Olympic website, where they chronicled daily experiences in Paris, including what the students ate, covered, and where they traveled.
“Originally, I wanted my project to focus on the intersection of politics, sports, and culture because that’s what I believe the Olympics are really about,” Hagan said about his initial idea for the documentary project. “But I ended up switching it when I started to integrate more with the group, and I wanted to shift the project to basically be something about the students’ experiences.”
Finally, Erica Howard, the other co-director of the group’s broadcast team, wrote blogs and filmed for the group’s website. She plans to create a story about American music’s popularity at the Olympic Games, noting that she’s heard much more American pop music than European or French music while at the Olympics.
“I just thought it’s really interesting how our media is consumed in other countries that aren’t even on our continent. Even from the Uber from our hotel, it’s immediately American music, and if not American, then it’s English, and I just thought that’s really interesting,” Howard said.
As an avid tennis player, Howard said her favorite moment of the week was seeing Coco Gauff play in person.
“Just being at the place where the French Open is held and seeing these professional athletes play a sport that I played when I was younger and that I’ve admired for years has been amazing,” Howard said.
To learn more about the LSU group’s experiences in France, visit the Manship Olympics website or follow the school’s Olympic project on their Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok pages.
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What was Louis Devita’s role in the LSU Olympic project?