Lights, Camera, Action

As mentioned in an earlier post, HADM Senior Victoria Colla was awarded the Hyatt Minority Scholarship. On hand to award the scholarship to Victoria and speak to HMS classes was Valerie Hope, Staffing and Recruiting Manager for Hyatt Hotels DFW.

In addition to her scholarship, Victoria was featured in a segment on KTRE, the local news station. The reporter caught Victoria "in action" as she prepared for the Thursday Quantity Foods Lab Luncheon. Also caught on camera was our own Dr. W! You can see the clip here.

Congrats again to Victoria and thanks to Valerie Hope for speaking to so many of our students.

October Update

Wow! The semester is cruising by. I can't believe we are already to the mid-way point. It's already been busy and we have some highlights to report. First, Dr. Wittenbach and I had a very successful trip to Houston to the Texas Travel Industry Association's Annual Meeting. We were treated to lunch and deluxe accomodations from Michael Blum, Advisory Board Member, White Lodging Guru, and Very Important Friend of the Program. Michael has a brand-spanking new hotel, the Courtyard by Marriott Galleria. Our own Chad Colston, HADM senior is completing his internship at the property, and SFA alum Leandro Godoy is also learning the ropes at the property as Housekeeping Manger. The TTIA meeting was good, but the very best part was the recognition of Scott Clanton, HADM Sophomore. Scott received the TTIA scholarship, and SFA College of Education Dean John Jacobson was in the audience to cheer Scott on. Speaking of Scholarships... our current student are out there and getting them! Taylor Garrett and Leigh Ann Cherry were both awarded $1500 from the American Hotel and Lodging Association Scholarship fund for 2008. Taylor is hoping to become an event/meeting planner while Leigh Ann is planning on becoming a sales representative for a major hotel company. Victoria Colla was awarded $2000 from the Hyatt Minority Scholarship program for 2008. Victoria is planning to enter the lodging field upon graduation. Samantha Mora won the Texas Cattlewoman’s 2007 award of $1000. Sam works part time at the Nacogdoches CVB and hopes to follow up with a meeting planning career. Congrats to all of these students! One final note, HADM Alumnae and Advisory Board Member Sarah O'Brien is the new Media Relations coordinator for the Nacogdoches CVB. Before returning to Nacogdoches, Sarah was the director of the Cleburne Convention and Visitor's Bureau in North Texas. We are excited to have Sarah back in Nac!

College Bowl

FLASH----FLASH----FLASH!!!!

The College Bowl team representing HMS from Hospitality took third place in last nights competition held at the Patillo Student Center. The team consisted of Brent Heironimus, Brooke Feris, Kerry Whitsett, and Wesley McCauley. Brooke was our team captain. We chose to wear the uniform shirts from Chay’s 139 class. We were styling among the “other” teams; Janie and Becky can be proud. The format was double elimination. We dispatched Pan Hellenic (twice) and Student Activities. We lost to Resident Housing Association (RHA) twice. The first time we played RHA they jumped out to an early lead and kept it up with a final score of 140 to 30. The second time, however, we fought hard and could have won had a toss up question gone our way. The final score of the second game was 115 to 80. I am very proud of our effort: Hospitality is not just a “fun” major!!!
The organizers of the event asked Brent Heironimus to participate on the SFA team during the regional finals to be held in Houston. Congrats to Brent and all the members for their fine showing.