By Hayden Kulick

Riverside City Colleges’ student newspaper Viewpoints was supposed to be given the opportunity to cover the California Community College Athletics Association track and field championships May 21. However, that opportunity was compromised by Mt. San Antonio College staff.

Despite getting press passes that allow reporters and photographers on-field access and the ability to interview athletes, Mt. SAC staff still would not let Viewpoints take photos or get interviews.

Viewpoints staff attempted to get photos on the field but were approached with a different reason as to why they could not do their jobs several times.

The first time, the Viewpoints team was told to move out of the way and stand near the edge of the track because the throwing events were taking place. A few minutes later, a Mt. SAC official approached the team and told them to get off the track again, this time using vulgar language.

When the Viewpoints team attempted to go to where the athletes were warming up to get interviews, Mt. SAC officials tracked the team down and told them to leave the area. There was no issue with reporters being near the athletes at meets previously held at this campus.

However, this is not the only negative experience that people have had at Mt. SAC. 

Following the negative experience at the meet, a Viewpoints member posted on Reddit about the experience, expressing his disbelief and frustration with the situation. 

Reddit user u/WirePhotog replied with a negative experience they had at Mt. SAC when they were trying to take photos for the USATF Golden games. In their reply, they also stated that they were not the only photographer that had issues that day.