How The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine is Changing Students’ Lives

How The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine is

Changing Students’ Lives

By Dean Dennis Reynolds

More than 10 years ago Buddy Hagner, Grand Commander and Commander of the Houston Chapter of the Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine, called the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership and left a voicemail. The message was simple: “The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine is interested in providing scholarships to support Hilton College students. If you are interested in taking our money, would someone please call me back?” He hung up the phone laughing, thinking this was, no doubt, an unusual voicemail for someone with no previous relationship with the University of Houston to leave.

Fast forward to 2022. Following the latest donation, the corpus of the KOV Endowment is almost $120,000! This equates to more than $4,000 in student scholarships annually— and in perpetuity! To add perspective, the KOV endowment has supported eight students since 2016. In return, these students volunteer at the Houston Assemblage and keep members up to date with speeches at the postAssemblage brunch. And the message from every KOV scholarship recipient is the same—this changed my life.

So where are recent scholarship recipients today? The two students who received KOV scholarships in the most recent academic year are on target to graduate in December 2022; one is currently completing an internship as a food and beverage manager with a major events company. A 2019 graduate is an on-premise premier wine consultant for a local retailer; a 2016 graduate is a chain-sales merchandiser with the largest wine distributor in Houston. Their career starts are impressive!

In addition to the students already mentioned, our graduates realize incredible career objectives around the world in lodging, restaurants and bars, tourism, catering and events, onsite foodservice, casinos, spa and club management, hotel development, revenue management, hospitality consulting, food safety, conference services, hospitality technology, sports and entertainment, marketing, social

media, brewery management, winery management, and wine and spirits distribution—and so much more! Our specialized business-degree program in hospitality includes a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Global Hospitality Leadership, a Master of Science (MS) in Hospitality Management, a dual MS/ MBA, a BS/MS in 5, an MS in Global Hospitality Business (spanning three continents), an Executive Master of Hospitality Management, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Hospitality Administration. With our bachelor’s degree, students can choose from tracks in Lodging Management, Foodservice Management, Wine and Beverage Studies, or Project Management and Analytics. Throughout our curricula, our focus is always on management. Our goal is simple—to prepare the global hospitality leaders of tomorrow.

This begs a question: Why did Buddy pick the University of Houston Hilton College? For years, the College has been ranked as one of the top hospitality programs in the world. It was founded in 1969 with a $1.5 million naming gift from hotel icon Conrad Hilton. Today, the College is home to close to 1,000 students representing more than 30 countries. At last count, 9,526 of our alumni occupied hospitality leadership positions in more than 50 countries. Moreover, our faculty includes some of the best researchers in the world and continues to set the standard for the future of hospitality research. And every member of our stellar faculty is an expert in the classroom. A degree from the University of Houston is considered a great value, but higher education—while a smart investment—remains expensive. Fortunately, when the Houston Chapter established this endowment, they did not put “Houston” on the paperwork thereby leaving it open for other chapters across the country to feel welcome to fully support and contribute if they so choose. Thanks to The Brotherhood of the Knights of the Vine, we can make our undergraduate degree even more affordable and ease the financial burden for students building their futures in our amazing industry.

Dennis Reynolds, Ph.D.

Dr. Dennis Reynolds is the proud Dean of the University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Global Hospitality Leadership and Barron Hilton Distinguished Chair.