Tarte Cosmetics and SI Swimsuit Models Take Over the University of Utah for Big 12 Women’s Empowerment Event

Brand stars including Brenna Huckaby, Hunter McGrady, Jasmine Sanders and Katie Austin spoke on an inspiring panel on Friday afternoon.

Jasmine Sanders, Katie Austin, Hunter McGrady and Brenna Huckaby / SI Staff

The Big 12 conference’s homecoming festivities are back for a second year in partnership with SI Swimsuit, and the series kicked off with a fabulous event at the University of Utah. This year’s events, sponsored by Tarte Cosmetics, feature an inspiring panel of brand stars as well as meet and greets with student attendees.

The first “Be You Women’s Empowerment Event” stop of 2024, sponsored by Allstate, took place on Thursday, Sept. 6, and Hunter McGrady, a 2024 cover model, brand legends Brenna Huckaby and Jasmine Sanders, and four-time brand star Katie Austin were all in attendance. Austin, a former Division I athlete and Huckaby, a Paralympic snowboarder and 2024 ESPY Award winner, spoke on their experiences with the intersection of sports and mental health. Meanwhile, McGrady and Sanders spoke about how they have watched the industry transform throughout their years as models. Each of the women spoke candidly about how they deal with tough moments and take care of themselves.

SI Swimsuit models panel / SI Staff

Huckaby, who lost her right leg to osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone marrow cancer at the age of 14, is a three-time Paralympic gold medalist and five-time World Champion. At the event, she spoke about how the diagnosis impacted her life.

“When I was diagnosed with cancer and I had the amputation, everything that I knew about myself was gone, and it was gone in a way that I had no power and control over. I would love to sit here and say, like, ‘Oh, I just got up and said, You know what? We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control how we respond.’ I’m sure we’ve all seen that quote, which there is a lot of truth to it, but it takes time,” the mom of two shared. “It took me a lot of time of being in the crap, of allowing myself to feel the loss and the change. So when I look back on what I pulled motivation from the most, while it was that loss of identity in my life, it was really just that time spent in the thick of it. [I discovered] who I am and what really matters to me and what I want my life to look like moving forward. Through that journey, I was able to come out and say, ‘I love being an athlete. I love pushing myself. I love the community,’ and that’s when I fell into snowboarding. Things are going to happen in life that are outside of our control, but we have to allow ourselves to be in that moment before we can move through it.”

Hunter McGrady and Jasmine Sanders / SI Staff

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The event also featured tons of pop-ups and activations from campus partners and women-owned local businesses, as well as a voter registration station. The SI Swimsuit x Tarte Glam and Beauty Bar offered free products to students, like the brand’s best-selling Maracuja Juicy Lip Plump ($26) and a full-size Tartelette XL Tubing Mascara ($27), as well as goodie bags containing a cute lilac Tarte hat and matching skincare headbands. Professional makeup artists were also stationed at vanities throughout the A. Ray Olpin Student Union Center Ballroom to provide expert tips and mini makeovers. They even perfectly color-matched students, who received a full size Shape Tape Concealer ($32).

Enjoying engaging panel discussions with @si_swimsuit and @wwe at the @allstate Be You Women’s Empowerment Tour. pic.twitter.com/uBMoMh0lG6

— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) September 7, 2024

The Big 12 Conference welcomed the University of Utah as a new member this year, and celebrated in the most iconic way with three days’ worth of homecoming events, including an additional panel featuring three rising female WWE stars.

In addition to SI Swimsuit’s Friday event, the weekend featured a partnership with the College Football Playoff Foundation’s Extra Yard for Teachers Makeover Project to reveal the newly-funded library makeover at Newman Elementary School in the Salt Lake City School District. On Saturday, the Big 12 held a fun tailgate party before the Utah Utes defeated the Baylor Bears 23-12.

University of Utah students / SI Staff