“The College Tour” begins filming at CSB+SJU

This week, The College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University are being filmed for an episode of the award-winning Amazon Prime TV series “The College Tour.”

The series aims to tell the story of what life is like on college campuses across the country and worldwide. By using real-life students’ stories and experiences—ranging from topics on academics, housing, sports, career preparation, campus life, location and much more—the show showcases everything the schools have to offer.

The crew arrived on campus Tuesday and will film all the way through Saturday. The crew will follow a select student cast through different areas of the school, highlighting places, people, stories and experiences to capture the environment of CSB+SJU.

Since airing its first episode in 2020, the series has produced eight seasons showcasing different colleges.

When reading a higher education magazine, Dean of Admission Cory Piper came across an article talking about “The College Tour.” Piper took an interest and, after doing some more research, found that no schools in Minnesota had been featured.

After coming to this realization and being filled with interest, Piper said she immediately reached out and filled out the form to get CSB+SJU on the show.

“I wrote them instantly. They responded, and we got things going,” Piper said. “This was the one week they had available, and what better time to present our school and the beauty of our area?”

Typically, the crew is on a given campus filming Monday through Friday. The CSB+SJU feature is a little different, as the crew will be on campus from Tuesday to Saturday. This is so the crew can film the energy and excitement on campus during Johnnie Football game days.

After working out the details and timing, pre-production started. During this period, the production crew and CSB+SJU staff determined the places to film, sent out the student casting call, viewed auditions, wrote scripts for cast members and found alumni to feature.

“All of that took 10 weeks. We met bi-weekly with the pre-production team, and then our team weekly to become totally prepared and ready for them arriving,” Piper said.

Out of nearly 30 student auditions received, eight were chosen to represent CSB+SJU on the show.

Choosing students who represent a wide range of grades, majors and extracurriculars was a main goal in the cast selection process and something the prospective cast members focused on in their audition tapes.

“For my audition, I sent in a video explaining why I thought I would be a great representative for CSB+SJU and why I think they should pick me for the casting,” SJU 5th-year senior Jimmy Buck said via email. “I wanted to represent St. John’s University because it is a place that has supported and facilitated my growth, inspiring me to become the best version of myself.”

CSB junior Stacey Delgado said she was shocked and excited when she was selected to be featured in the College Tour.

“One Tuesday morning, I woke up to a bunch of messages and emails about my acceptance to the show. My initial reaction was confusion because I had just woken up, and quickly that confusion turn to shock, and I remember running around to find my roommates to tell them the news,” Delgado said via email.

Another goal of the cast selection process was to include students with various backgrounds who had different experiences, identities and stories to share, something Delgado said was an important part of her desire to be a part of the show.

“I saw this as a good opportunity to show future generations of the possibilities on campus and that there is a community for them to feel included. CSB+SJU have helped me fully own my identity as a First-Gen Latina Americana Woman,” Delgado said. “I am very excited to be recording in the Multicultural Center, since that department helped me a lot since I got here.”

The current students who will be featured are CSB senior Clair Moonen, CSB senior Ashley Tarrolly, CSB senior Jocie Larson, CSB junior Stacey Delgado, SJU senior Kaidan Popp, SJU 5th-year senior Jimmy Buck, SJU sophomore Kobe Forbes and SJU junior Luke Budzyn.

Two alumni will also be featured: SJU ‘22 graduate Matthew Gish and CSB ‘22 graduate Ashley Ortizcazarin.

Piper said the individual experiences of these students is the most important thing to showcase to future students during filming.

“It’s really about their experience because that is the best way to share our Johnnie and Bennie love,” Piper said. “Our current students are the ones that we want to tell stories to have more future students interested in coming and pursuing their education here.”

Larson said the high level of production and popularity of “The College Tour” series gives admissions a new way to showcase CSB+SJU to potential future students.

“The idea of prospective students getting a more [complete] picture of our college through an Amazon TV show is innovative and makes our campus more accessible to the future Bennies and Johnnies,” Larson said via email.

All the material created during filming will be owned by CSB+SJU. The footage that does not make it into the 30-minute feature airing in the spring of next year will be used for various admissions and marketing opportunities for future school years.

Piper said that for her, the feature goes beyond just displaying the CSB+SJU experience for future Bennies and Johnnies—it shows the love of community held by students and faculty on campus.

“For me, as dean of admissions, it’s emotional for me to hear students’ stories,” Piper said. “I’m so appreciative when students share their story with us, and the way they can speak so clearly and communicate their love of place, their love of experience, their love of friends and their love of involvement.”