Kat Weeden is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications and Media. Her studies primarily focused on how different forms of media can impact our perspectives on marginalized communities.Kat was initially drawn to criminal justice in high school after she became captain of the Ethics team which involved various cases on crime, justice, and punishment. She continued to learn about the justice system through classes such as Philosophy and the Law where she discussed and dissected the ethics of various laws and punishments. She later explored how social media plays a part in the representation of marginalized communities and their relationships to crime. She wrote a research paper on how different social media platforms promote content concerning crime and how it could affect social activists’ mental health.

Prior to graduation, she worked at the Office of Student Conflict Resolution for the University of Michigan to help students and staff utilize restorative justice pathways to resolve their conflicts. She expanded outreach to students and the community through her graphic designs and hopes to do the same for The Des.