“If you cannot see where you are going, ask someone who has been there before.”
― J. Loren Norris
From the Director
I want to begin with my thanks for the opportunity to work with and lead the amazing team in Fritz Knoebel. Ours is an extraordinary organization, a really bright light at DU and the Daniels College of Business. The experiences we produce for students, the learning we facilitate, the community we cultivate year in and year out—all are a testimony to this team’s commitment to excellence.
This commitment—with critical financial support from our alumni and friends—has enabled Fritz Knoebel to launch and grow elements of our students’ experience that have become exemplars for other units in Daniels and across campus. One important example is the Ann and David Hoffman LEAD Mentorship Program, which is featured in this issue of Fritz Knoebel News. Mentorship is a pillar of the University of Denver’s 4D Experience (read more at du.edu/4D-experience); LEAD is a wonderful example of what the University has created.
We were proud to celebrate LEAD’s 15th anniversary this past spring! I hope you enjoy learning more about the program in this issue and hearing about its impact firsthand, from mentors and student protégés.
A lot of other noteworthy things are happening at Fritz Knoebel: Naomi Boyd began her tenure as dean of the Daniels College of Business this summer. I am tremendously excited to work with Dean Boyd—she has already demonstrated an understanding and appreciation of the value Fritz Knoebel brings to the College and DU.
The Fritz Knoebel faculty team has once again updated the curriculum (daniels.du.edu/degree-requirements/) so that we may continue to lead the field by educating students to meet the industry’s changing needs. COVID forced us to be reactive, but we are once again working on a new, proactive strategic plan, which we expect to complete this fall.
Finally, I am super excited to announce an alumni awards dinner at which we will celebrate awardees in several categories:
• Fritz Knoebel Alumni Hall of Fame
• Industry Impact Award
• Professional Achievement Award
• Rising Star Award
Please save Nov. 7 on your calendar, stay on the lookout for information and plan to join us for this fabulous event.
My warmest regards to all with best wishes for the remainder of 2024 and the new year.
In the spirit of hospitality,
David
L. Corsun, PhD Director and Professor
Congratulations to Amrik Singh, a longtime member of the Fritz Knoebel faculty and the anchor of our lodging real estate concentration, for his promotion from associate professor to professor. This promotion is a recognition of Amrik’s contributions to Fritz Knoebel, Daniels, DU and—much more broadly—to the hospitality industry and education in the field.
For 15 years, the LEAD (Learn by Example, Attain Distinction) Mentorship Program has helped countless students prepare for successful careers. For the last 10 years, the program has carried the name of Ann (BSBA 1975, MBA 1976) and David Hoffman (BSBA 1971, MBA 1979), who provided critical funding. The program connects students with peer and professional mentors, facilitating hands-on hospitality experiences and helping students build crucial relationships in the industry.
Within the LEAD Program, first- and second-year students are assigned upperclassmen as peer mentors, while juniors and seniors are connected with professional mentors.
It’s a unique mentorship program that sets the Knoebel School apart from other institutions, said director David Corsun.
“Mentorship is critical throughout one’s career, as it helps create a network, teaches important lessons personally and organizationally, and aids in establishing one’s legitimacy,” Corsun said. “Through LEAD, we have been helping Fritz students do all these things for 15 years. We are fortunate to be teaching hospitality in Denver, where there is such a rich network of industry professionals committed to helping grow the next generation of leadership talent.”
“It’s a unique mentorship program that sets the Knoebel School apart.”
LEAD: A 15-year Legacy of Mentorship
Q&A: LEAD Mentor Hannah Hoffman
Though she didn’t attend the Daniels College of Business as an undergraduate, Hannah Hoffman knows the LEAD Mentorship Program well. Her parents, Ann and David Hoffman, who met as MBA students at Daniels, were the ones who endowed the program 10 years ago.
Hoffman graduated from Boston University with a degree in hospitality administration and management, and then worked in the industry in Chicago and New York. She received her MBA from Daniels in 2022. Now, as founder of her own Denver-based hospitality consulting company, Hoffman Hospitality, she has served as a LEAD mentor for Daniels undergraduates for the past three years.
She told Knoebel News about her mentorship experience and the relationships she helps to build.
Whether it’s through the LEAD Program or people reaching out to you on LinkedIn, you are very giving of your time to help people who are just starting out in their careers. Why is that a priority for you?
I get very energized from it, and I anticipate hiring these leaders one day. Maybe not today, but I think, “Go out in the world, get experience, and find me on LinkedIn or text me when it’s time for you to look at my company.”
Does hospitality naturally lend itself to mentorship? It’s hard to find good leaders anywhere—people you really vibe with. In any industry, if you find someone great, be active in their inbox. In hospitality, it’s really hard to find good mentors, especially female mentors, because there aren’t a lot of women at the top.
Have you ended up hiring any of the people you’ve mentored?
I haven’t hired anyone to come work at my company, but I’ve recommended them to friends, companies like the White Elephant resort in Nantucket. I’ve helped people get interviews and talked to friends where I have connections that would be beneficial to them. I see that as one of my main jobs as a mentor.
What do you like best about serving as a LEAD mentor?
I love challenging the students. What I like most is that they still have a sparkle in their eyes. They haven’t been jaded. Their energy gives me energy. And I like showing people what’s possible. If you can dream it, you can do it. It might take some time, and you might have to learn some things you don’t necessarily love learning. As a personal example, I was never a big Microsoft Excel person. Fast forward to my MBA, and now I love Excel, because it’s the truth. It’s about keeping an open mind and trying new things.
Two-Way Street
Mentor Leigh Hitz (BSBA 1984) says being part of the LEAD program has been as valuable to her as it is to the students she works with.
As one of the original business leaders recruited to LEAD when it began in 2009, Leigh Hitz has mentored dozens of Knoebel School students over the past 15 years. Nearly all of them have gone on to work in the hospitality industry—a testament to the devotion and networking skills Hitz brings to her mentoring role.
“The level of students the hospitality school produces is just amazing to me,” said Hitz, who retired in 2016 after 30 years as CEO and president of Denver-based Magnolia Hotels Management, now known as Stout Street Hospitality. “I’ve stayed in touch with a handful of them over the years, and they’ll randomly call for advice. I’ll get a text message, and I think, ‘Oh my gosh, I haven’t talked to him for four years.’ And they’ll say, ‘Do you have time? I just want to run something by you.’ It’s been a very rewarding effort.”
As much as Hitz has given to her protégés over the past 15 years, she says she has received just as much in return.
“It’s such a two-way relationship. They teach us things we never even thought about,” she said. “They also are the generation we are hiring and who we’re working with, and it’s a great way to find out what values are important to them. The type of company culture these students are looking for is very different than it was five years ago. They’re looking for value alignment, they’re looking for workplaces that embrace impact, and they’re looking to make sure they can grow in that job. They ask a lot of valuable questions that students 10 years ago didn’t ask.”
“The level of students the hospitality school produces is just amazing.”
LEAD: A 15-year Legacy of Mentorship
Both Sides Now
Former LEAD protégé Claire Wallace joins the program as a mentor
Claire Wallace (BSBA 2015, MBA 2016) knows she may never have achieved her career success without the guidance she received through the LEAD Mentorship Program when she was an undergraduate at the Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management.
That’s why Wallace—vice president of acquisitions and development at Boston-based Pyramid Global Hospitality— decided to pay it forward by becoming a LEAD mentor herself, shortly after graduating from the Daniels College of Business with a BSBA in hospitality management and an MBA with a real estate finance concentration.
“It was great jumping into the mentorship side of it right out of school because I remembered what it was like to be a junior or senior looking for jobs, trying to figure out what you’re going to do with your life. All of that was so fresh for me still,” said Wallace, who works out of her home in Denver. “I think about, ‘What help or advice would I have wanted when I was in their shoes?’”
As she goes through the mentoring process with students, Wallace thinks back to her days as a protégé in the LEAD Program, when her mentor was Bill Thomas, at the time head of HR for the Four Seasons hotels in Denver and Vail. (Thomas is now VP of human resources for Steamboat Ski and Resort Corp.)
“Bill was wonderful to work with,” Wallace said. “He definitely helped develop my background in operations. At the time, I
had worked a little bit on the food and beverage side, but I already had turned one eye to the real estate side. Working with Bill, I gained more of that operational background, and I found my way into the management-company side of the business very quickly.”
Proof that her approach to mentorship is effective? Wallace has seen all of her protégés land jobs in the industry, and she has stayed in touch with all of them, even after their time in the program was over.
“They’re not just connections you make for a quarter or two; they’re connections you can make for a lifetime,” she said. “Both as a student and a mentor, I’ve learned that with the LEAD Program, you get out of it what you put into it. I learn a lot from the students too. It’s one of the most important aspects of what the school does every year, and it’s an incredible opportunity not just for the students, but for the mentors as well. It’s great networking for us to get to meet and connect with the other mentors in the program. I’m so glad they continue to do it.”
Meet the LEAD Program coordinators
Stephanie Van Cleve-DeHerrera serves as the associate director of hospitality career services, where she supports student career advising, industry employer relations and recruiting, and management of the LEAD Mentorship Program. Her prior experience includes roles with the Colorado Hotel & Lodging Association, the Denver Workforce Development Board, the Colorado Workforce Development Council and the Hospitality Human Resource Association board.
Janeen Todd is a project coordinator who began working with the LEAD Mentorship Program in 2022. She fully understands the student life cycle and how important every touchpoint impacts the student and their experience. She helps Fritz Knoebel tailor mentorship programs for hospitality students, incorporating both peer and professional protégés and mentors.
Please email DCB.FritzLEAD@du.edu if you would like to participate in the program!
Coming Full Circle
Fritz Knoebel School alumna Sophie Hickcox landed a job at the same company where her mentor works
Consider Fritz Knoebel School alumna Sophie Hickcox (BSBA 2019) the ultimate LEAD Mentorship Program success story: She now works for Denver-based Exclusive Resorts, the same company where her former mentor, Knoebel School alumnus Chris Cornelius (BSBA 2008), worked when he mentored her—and still works today.
A role as a senior marketing specialist at Exclusive is a dream job for Hickcox, who wasn’t even considering a career in hospitality when she first came to the University of Denver.
“When I started at DU, I only knew I was going to go into the business school,” Hickcox said. “I was intrigued by the program at Fritz—the professors and the curriculum and everything they offer has more of an experiential aspect to it, which really drew me in.”
Like all students in the LEAD Program, Hickcox started her journey with a peer mentor, who was a few years ahead of her at the Knoebel School. Long before she was ready to enter the working world, she was getting more practical advice about managing her time at college and learning to be on her own, she said.
“The peer mentorship was my first entry into participating in all of the Fritz events and programs and working on campus,” she said. “Having someone who is in the same program as you, just a couple of years ahead, is so valuable. From a mentorship perspective, it’s important to have people in your life who are 10 years ahead, and people who are just a few years ahead.”
By the time her junior year rolled around, Hickcox was ready for more practical advice. Cornelius helped her with everything from her resume and LinkedIn page to developing her interviewing skills. While she also had internships during her time at Daniels, the mentoring relationship proved more valuable when it came to asking specific questions about the way things work in the real world.
“In the LEAD Mentorship Program, you have a lot more guidance,” she said. “You’re not working for your mentor, so you can be more vulnerable and ask questions you might not feel comfortable asking your boss at an internship.”
Hickcox worked in operations for a spa right after graduating from DU, but her interests soon turned to marketing. She reached out to Cornelius, who let her know about an entry-level marketing job at Exclusive. Once she landed that job, she was happy to be able to reconnect with her former guru.
“It’s important to have people in your life who are 10 years ahead, and people who are just a few years ahead.”
“Having that prior relationship with Chris has been wonderful, because I still consider him a mentor,” Hickcox said. “He’s in HR and I’m in marketing, so, we’re not in the same department, but especially when I first started, I had a ton of questions. It was nice to have a resource like him.”
Cornelius was quick to point out that, although he mentored Hickcox, it was her skills and personality that won her the job.
“Sophie is absolutely outstanding and incredible at what she does, and she is truly talented,” he said. “I gave her a positive reference, but given her incredible background and experience, that’s why she got hired. It is nice to see, and I have a special place in my heart for DU grads.”
As much as he gets out of the LEAD Program, Cornelius— who was named the program’s Mentor of the Year in 2016—is most excited about what it means for the students who take part in it.
“I think it gives students purview into what it’s truly like to work in a corporate setting,” he said. “It’s nice for them to get a look at the politics that are involved, how to advocate for oneself, how to bring up issues or problems or challenges, and how to figure out a support system. I only wish it had been in place when I was in school.”
Inaugural Alumni Awards Kicks Off Year of Signature Events
By Joe Ponce
Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024
Alumni awards honor donors and advocates
This year, the Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management is adding another celebratory event to its annual medley of delightful dinner offerings. The Alumni Awards dinner, scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 7, joins the illustrious DU Vin dinner and Public Good Gala as a third signature Fritz Knoebel event.
The November awards dinner is intended to honor the impact and legacy of Fritz alumni. The school will celebrate the work of
long-time donors and advocates who—through both practice and philanthropy—have continued the deep and lasting traditions of producing extraordinarily trained hospitality students, who are ready to achieve the highest performance with the utmost care. Honors include the Industry Impact Award, Professional Achievement Award, Rising Star Award and induction into the Fritz Knoebel Alumni Hall of Fame.
Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025
Public Good Gala supports refugee students
The Public Good Gala is the result of a collaboration between the Fritz Knoebel School and the Ethiopian Community Development Council’s African Community Center (ECDC/ ACC), a refugee resettlement agency. ACC wanted to better prepare recently migrated refugees to integrate into the American workforce. The resulting partnership is the Ready for American Hospitality Program (RAH), which pairs refugee students with Fritz Knoebel hospitality students for an immersive classroom experience.
Both the U.S. Department of State and the U.N. High Commission on Refugees have recognized RAH for its work. The program also received the 2013 Worldwide Hospitality Award for “Best Educational Innovation.”
The Public Good Gala serves as a fundraiser for the RAH program. A team of hospitality students and RAH refugees prepare and serve a multi-course dinner and curated wine selection, under the guidance of a prominent guest chef. In previous years, the Public Good Gala has welcomed James Beard Award winners, as well as judges and contestants on bigname Food Network shows.
This year, students and refugees will work under the guidance of Marc Lanteri, a Michelin star, classically trained chef who currently owns and operates the Ristorante Marc Lanteri in Piedmont, Italy.
The Public Good Gala takes place Thursday, Feb. 20. More information on purchasing tickets will be available in January at: daniels.du.edu/public-good-gala/
Thursday, May 15, and Saturday, May 17, 2025
DU Vin Festival includes dinner and grand tasting
Senior Fritz Knoebel students also partner with Ready for American Hospitality (RAH) students to plan, coordinate and execute the DU Vin dinner. Proceeds from the five-course, wine-paired dinner go to Fritz Knoebel student scholarships and programming. The dinner is only one component of the DU Vin Festival, which includes a grand wine tasting that features local wine distributors and food pairings from Denver restaurants. The DU Vin dinner is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, May 15. The grand tasting is slated for Saturday, May 17. More information on purchasing tickets for the DU Vin festival will be available in early 2025 at daniels.du.edu/du-vin.
To be added to the mailing list for these events, please email: DCB.FritzKnoebel@du.edu.
Fall 2024 Alumni Awards
Rising Star Award
Claire Wallace (Lieberman), BSBA 2014
Professional Achievement Award
Kiza Miller, BSBA 2010
Extraordinary Service Contribution
Dave Johnstone, MBA 1987
Fritz Knoebel Alumni Hall of Fame
Peter Morton, BSBA 1969
Steele Platt, BSBA 1982
Alumni News
Dolores Grohmann Beddow, a hotel and restaurant management major (1982), passed away in April. She loved DU and interning in Breckenridge.
Meg Hellmuth (Loomis) (BSBA 2008) is global sales director at Rosewood Hotel Group.
McKenna Luke (BSBA 2012) is managing director and national hospitality practice lead at Partner Valuation Advisors.
Jeanna Hine (BSBA 2015) is director of revenue management at L + R Hotels.
Courtney Boepple (BSBA 2017) is director of special events for Sodexo Live! at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium.
Cheyenne Nieland (BSBA 2018) is an event technology manager at Unbridled.
Kelly Anderson (BSBA 2019) is a member engagement manager at Domaine Serene.
Ethan Alter (BSBA 2020) is chief operating officer of Mountain Crust Catering.
Justine Lane (BSBA 2020) is a senior event planner at PCL Construction.
Trevor Rumsey (BSBA 2021) is a business development representative at Functional Distro.
Jeffrey Bernstein (BSBA 2022) is a rooms revenue analyst at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts.
Benjamin Goldberg (BSBA 2022) is a senior investments analyst at HEI Hotels & Resorts.
Abby Thompson (BSBA 2022) is a real estate acquisitions and investment analyst at Choice Hotels International.
Victoria Anthony (BSBA 2023) is a sales coordinator at Populus Hotel.
Ryan Foreman (BSBA 2023) is a field research analyst at CBRE.
