Knoebel
NEWS
Celebrating 75 Years of Fritz
Table of Contents From the Director
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75 Years of Fritz
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A Look Back
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Q&A With David Corsun
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Looking Ahead
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Interview: First-Year Student
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Interview: Outgoing Senior
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Beverage Management Update
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Alumni Updates
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In Memoriam
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Support the School In our 75 years, Fritz has learned what preparations are necessary for our students and our industry to thrive. Join us in supporting our priorities so the next 75 years yield the same level of industry-leading skills and innovation! SCHOLARSHIPS So that qualified students can attend Fritz Knoebel with a lighter financial burden. OPERATING So that the value of our education can surpass our tuition. CLOTHING ACCOUNT FOR STUDENTS IN HOSPITALITY (CASH) A fund for our students to have access to professional attire they can use for interviews and networking. PHELPS A matching fund for recent alumni to meet the School’s most urgent needs.
Please text:
FRITZ75 to 41444 or visit daniels.du.edu/fritz75
to support our different initiatives in the coming year.
From the Director By David Corsun, PhD
FRITZ KNOEBEL HAS COME A LONG WAY IN THE LAST 75 YEARS SINCE ITS INCEPTION IN SEPTEMBER 1946. We’ve seen over 3,400 students graduate, been housed under the roofs of many different buildings and sent our students across the world to deepen their learning in the industry. Yet throughout the past three quarters of a century, our ethos and values have remained the same: Be bold. Do good. Change lives. Compassion is at the heart of the hospitality industry, and we pride ourselves in guiding our students and faculty to
lead with their compassion at the forefront. As we look ahead to the next 75 years, we are eager to adapt to the dynamic nature of hospitality. Technology has certainly changed the industry in incredible ways. Even the recent pandemic has showed how hospitality must adjust to new consumer needs and preferences. Through every transformation to the industry, we are confident that our guiding principles
will hold steadfast to lead us through. The fundamentals remain unchanged, though the context might look different. We can’t wait to see Fritz Knoebel continue to evolve and lead as we move forward into the next 75 years of operation and beyond. In hospitality,
David L. Corsun, PhD Director & Associate Professor 2021 | FRITZ KNOEBEL NEWS
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Years 1981
1946
FIRST GRADUATING CLASS Fritz Knoebel’s very first class walked across the stage to graduate in 1946, kicking off 75 years of tradition and counting.
LAUNCH OF SOCIAL MEDIA
The voice of Fritz Knoebel got a digital makeover in 2015 with the launch of our social media platforms. You can now get the latest updates from Fritz Knoebel in the palm of your hand.
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Beloved philanthropist, leader and visionary Joy Burns became a member of our Board of Trustees in 1981. She later became the first female board chair in 1991 and guided DU with her dedication to our students until she retired from the board in 2017.
2014
2015
@FritzKnoebel @FritzKnoebel
JOY BURNS JOINS BOARD OF TRUSTEES
@FritzKnoebelSch @Fritz-Knoebel
FIRST PUBLIC GOOD GALA
The Public Good Gala has been supporting our RAH program since 2014. This decadent gala features multi-course meals and wine pairings prepared by our students under the supervision of renowned guest chefs.
s of Fritz 2006
2008
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WINE CELLAR OPENINGS
The Banfi Wine Cellar opened in 2006, allowing students to develop their viticulture and viniculture knowledge while honing their palettes before they enter the professional world. The Crowne Goodman Wine Cellar opened this year, expanding the program to include advanced certificates and tasting events.
BEANS OPENINGS
DU RAH PROGRAM BEGINS
LEAD MENTORSHIP PROGRAM LAUNCHES
Beans, our student-run café, has been fueling students and staff on campus since 2008. Its second location opened in 2017.
2012
Our Ready for American Hospitality (RAH) program commenced in 2012. Each year since then, students have had the opportunity to work with refugees from the Ethiopian Community Development Council’s African Community Center.
2008
The LEAD Mentorship Program was founded in 2008, connecting students with each other as peer mentors and with professional mentors to provide hands-on experience that complements their in-class learning.
2010
FIRST DU VIN
DU Vin is a food and wine tasting event produced by a class of senior students. This experiential learning festival got started in 2010 and has been providing the opportunity for students to showcase the skills they’ve learned at Fritz Knoebel ever since. 2021 | FRITZ KNOEBEL NEWS
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A Look BACK A NOTE FROM PETER RAINSFORD, FORMER DIRECTOR (1999 - 2006) Within the hospitality program, the small size provided me with the opportunity to have close relationships with students, faculty and staff. I knew most of the students by name and had many opportunities to interact with them in both large and small groups. The feedback I received from the students was invaluable for working with the faculty and staff to redesign the curriculum and plan the design and functions of the new building. When I was being recruited to DU, then-Dean of the Daniels College of Business Jim Griesemer, then-Chancellor Daniel L. Ritchie and thenBoard Chair Joy S. Burns all told me they were there to help the program succeed and would personally help me in any way they could. I was skeptical! It’s easy to make promises when you are recruiting someone, but they typically fall through the cracks after the individual arrives. Nothing could have been further from the truth; Dean Griesemer, Chancellor Ritchie and Chairwoman Burns were always available to help in any way the program needed and were committed to its success. I was extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to be at DU for seven years, and will forever be grateful to the many students, faculty and staff with whom I had the pleasure to work. Working with them was an absolute delight and because of their efforts DU has the Joy Burns Center.
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WHAT ARE SOME HIGHLIGHTS FROM YOUR TIME AT DU? When I interviewed for this job, I said I thought maybe a 10-year run would be appropriate, but as much as the team has accomplished during my time here, there is still more to do and that’s what keeps me in this role. I just finished my 14th year, and it has been an amazing ride. The excitement of being with the team, of seeing them grow, preparing our students for life and engaging our alumni—those are the highlights. But there is definitely more to come. HOW DO YOU THINK THE HISTORY OF THE SCHOOL CONTRIBUTED TO ITS SUCCESS IN THE PRESENT? It is simply not possible for us to be in this place without the contributions of all who came before those of us privileged to work in Fritz. Back in the day, this School was one of the three U.S. programs in which people aspired to study. A number of alumni have mentioned that when they were looking at programs it was DU, Michigan State and Cornell. Many chose DU because the hospitality
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program was housed in the college of business; for others, Denver lured them. That reputation deteriorated but the recommitment to the School made by DU when Dan Ritchie was chancellor and Joy Burns chaired the Board of Trustees was pivotal. The work Peter Rainsford did to reengage alumni and get the Joy Burns Center built was critical to building an academic foundation for the future. The School’s current success is not a discontinuity; it is an extension of the renaissance that goes back to the late 1990s. HOW DO YOU SEE THE FUTURE OF HOSPITALITY? The truth is that the industry needs to evolve in order to compete for talent. Young people simply won’t work the 70- or 80-hour workweeks I did right out of school, particularly for $50,000. They want balance in their lives, and they deserve it. We have to get over the notion that things must be the way they always have been. Hospitality needs to start benchmarking best practices against firms in other industries that are way ahead of where we are. One of my proudest moments as director of the
Q&A With David Corsun
Director of the Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management
School was having Fritz called the first social impact hospitality program in a recent Forbes article. This is the future. If the industry can pull itself free from past practices that simply don’t work now, the future is very bright. HOW IS THE SCHOOL POSITIONED TO SUCCEED IN THE FUTURE? WHAT PROBLEMS STILL NEED SOLUTIONS FROM THE NEXT GENERATION IN HOSPITALITY? As I alluded to above, we are building our strategy around preparing future business leaders focused on the triple bottom line: social, environmental and financial. Impact and success will come to be measured on all three dimensions and operators will need to be prepared for this shift. Our students are so bright and talented and they really want to change the world. I’m confident that if the industry ignores the imperatives I’ve mentioned, current and potential future students will eschew hospitality careers, putting the industry in great peril. Our strategy will position students for the kind of leadership the industry will need to thrive in the future.
WHAT DO YOU SEE AS YOUR OWN LEGACY AT THE SCHOOL? First, let’s be clear—everything we have accomplished and will in the future is because a team of talented, caring people worked together to do so. Attracting and assembling this team has enabled us to produce the student experience and education we do. If I have contributed one lasting thing it is the accumulation of a substantial resource base that makes so much of what we do possible, from expanding our curricular and co-curricular travel opportunities to ensuring that Fritz students can graduate with less than $15,000 in student loans. I hope, though, that our vision—Be bold. Do good. Change lives.—carries the School well into the future. It has guided us into the leading position we have in the social impact space. IF YOU COULD LEAVE CURRENT HOSPITALITY STUDENTS WITH A MESSAGE, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Stick to your principles. You can and will change the industry for the better. It has no choice but to meet you at least halfway.
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Looking AHEAD to the Next
Years
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THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY IS AT AN INFLECTION POINT COVID-19 presented a severely negative economic discontinuity that threatened the industry in ways it has not experienced, perhaps ever. With the departure of many employees from the industry, finding talent as the economy rebounds has been a brutal task. What most industry leaders have avoided is any discussion of the ways in which industry culture and long-term practice have exacerbated, perhaps even created, this seemingly unsolvable problem. We in hospitality education have known this day was coming, even before COVID. Enrollments have been shrinking nationwide in hospitality degree programs as young people eschew an industry that simply does not know what it means to have balance in one’s life, or demand careers and employers that enable such balance. They want humane workplaces in which their employees all earn a living wage and the back of the house is as valued economically as the front. Recently, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AHLA) floated the idea of launching a reputational rebranding campaign to attract workers. The problem is, without some brave organizations taking a stand and making real change in how they operate, AHLA would be selling a lie. So, how does all this influence us in Fritz Knoebel as we seek to lead in hospitality education and show industry the way forward? In a recent Forbes article, Fritz Knoebel was called the first social impact hospitality program. We have demonstrated in multiple ways that social impact is in our DNA. Moving forward, we will embrace this notion and lead in this space; doing so is the only way to lead the industry forward. Harbor no illusions, though. We are capitalists and recognize the importance of the profit motive. However, we believe that in the future the bottom line will be driven and measured by an organization’s performance economically, environmentally and socially. This is the only sustainable way forward. The next 75 years will see us prepare leaders who drive performance in all three areas and lead with heart. As baby boomers become fewer in number, purchasing decisions will be driven by different criteria that align with the triple bottom line. The hospitality organizations that attract and retain the best talent; drive the highest volume, price and profit; and thrive in the future will be those that embrace these changes—the changes our students will be prepared to lead.
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Student Interview:
First-Year Student TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOU−WHERE ARE YOU FROM, WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR FREE TIME? My name is Caitlin Ng and I am a first-year student studying hospitality management. Growing up in Las Vegas, I had a lot of exposure to the hospitality industry at a young age, which sparked my interest in the industry. I am a part of Greek life (Alpha Phi) here in Denver, and in my free time, I enjoy going downtown to walk around and eat at different restaurants! WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT THE HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY? Something that excites me about the hospitality industry is meeting new people with different backgrounds who share my same passion for hospitality. Whether that is working with my fellow classmates or networking with alumni in the industry, I enjoy building connections and collaborating with people. WHAT DREW YOU TO THE FRITZ KNOEBEL SCHOOL? When I toured Fritz, I loved the atmosphere and the tight community. I connected well with the students I spoke with and could envision myself working in the hospitality program alongside the students I interacted with on my tour. WHAT ABOUT THE FRITZ PROGRAM ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? I am looking forward to taking all the classes to figure out what area of hospitality I am most passionate about and which aspect I enjoy the most! Also, I am looking forward to being a student ambassador in the 2021–2022 school year.
IS THERE ANY NICHE WITHIN HOSPITALITY THAT YOU ARE HOPING TO JOIN? Right now, I am undecided as to what niche I want to pursue. The two I am leaning toward are F&B Management or Lodging Real Estate. I believe through taking more classes and getting more work experience, I will be able to narrow down which aspect of hospitality I enjoy more. HOW DO YOU THINK HOSPITALITY WILL BE DIFFERENT (OR THE SAME) 75 YEARS FROM NOW? I believe that hospitality and technological advancements go hand in hand and will continue to develop over the next 75 years. I see us reaching a place where it is more common and widespread for hotels to utilize internet-connected technologies, thus making the customer experience significantly better across all levels of hospitality and expanding upscale experiences. HOW DO YOU THINK HOSPITALITY HAS CHANGED OR REMAINED THE SAME OVER THE LAST 75 YEARS? Hospitality has advanced technologically so much in the last 75 years. The digital age is consuming every aspect of people’s lives, so the hospitality industry has had to adapt with it. I think customer service has improved, especially luxury customer service, over the years as people learn from the past and focus on the customer’s needs with the assistance of new technology.
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Student Interview:
Outgoing Senior
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER YOU GRADUATE? I have accepted a full-time offer with Solera Senior Living as the business office director for a new luxury community opening up in Austin, Texas. WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR MOST MEMORABLE TIMES AT FRITZ KNOEBEL? My most memorable moments at Fritz Knoebel were when I was working for the Knoebel Events staff right in our building. Whether it was for corporate events, fundraisers or weddings, our team of students provided top-level service all while having a great time and learning a lot. I will always remember how much fun we had closing the building at 2 a.m. after wild weddings or events just to come in the next day and do it all again! WHAT SKILLS OR WAYS OF THINKING DID YOU LEARN AT FRITZ KNOEBEL THAT YOU’RE LOOKING TO TAKE TO THE WORLD OF HOSPITALITY? I learned the importance of communication—a skill that separates top-performing professionals from the rest. I also was able to find my voice
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and confidence and become a disruptor for change. The team at Fritz Knoebel taught me that anyone, at any level, can create change and that empowerment is something I look forward to using for positive change in my career. IF YOU COULD TELL AN INCOMING STUDENT ANYTHING, WHAT WOULD IT BE? Appreciate having your friends live down the hall or just across campus from you! The best thing about college is finding your family of friends and practically living with them for four years. HOW DO YOU THINK HOSPITALITY WILL BE DIFFERENT (OR THE SAME) 75 YEARS FROM NOW? I think 75 years from now hospitality is bound to look very different. To start, sustainability efforts are not just a phase and the pressure for change from younger generations will only rise. Not changing bed linens as often or not refreshing bath towels daily will not be enough and younger consumers are already starting to intentionally spend their money with companies that are doing more than the bare minimum. I hope to see systematic changes and
Originally from Manhattan Beach, California, Duke Mahr (Class of 2021) found himself in Denver to attend the only hospitality program that was able to complement and enrich his passion for creating experiences for others. Duke spent much of his four years on campus working as a student assistant manager and bartender for the Knoebel Events team. In addition, Duke worked as a resident assistant for the first-year Innovation and Entrepreneurship Living and Learning Community and served three years on the Executive Board of the University of Denver Programming Board, spending his final year as the co-president of the organization. His favorite experience while at DU was living in Aspen, Colorado, for one summer, where he worked as the housekeeping supervisor at the five-star, five-diamond Little Nell Hotel.
industry-level standards that far surpass our current measures and expectations of sustainability. In addition, I truthfully think that the current pressures within this industry (Airbnb, VRBO, etc.) are a blessing as they have been and will continue to be a catalyst for change. These pressures are forcing the industry to steer away from the traditional hotel experience in order to compete. This has created a new and growing trend for experiential-focused hotels with unique product offerings and unmatched hotel stays—something that I think is rejuvenating the industry. Lastly, I cannot discuss the future of this industry without mentioning immigrants, refugees and other underrepresented groups. Immigrants put food on our tables, they flip our hotel rooms and currently they are the ones disinfecting our airplanes. The hospitality industry will only exist 75 years from now if we systematically change how we approach, support, mentor and pay our foreign-born employees. They are at the foundation of this industry, working the hardest jobs for the least amount of money, and they are still being held captive in entry-level positions. The future of the hospitality industry depends on our willingness to address and correct the inequities and exploitation that are present everyday across the industry.
HOW DO YOU THINK HOSPITALITY HAS CHANGED OR REMAINED THE SAME OVER THE LAST 75 YEARS? The hospitality industry is a behemoth that has survived every economic and global downfall there has been (and it will survive this pandemic). Over the years, we have seen great strides of improvement in sustainability, diversity and ingenuity. There is still much that needs to improve within these elements but the progress that we have made so far has been incredible. In addition, technology has truly become the core of this industry. Whether it is for data analytics or the guest experience, technology is almost omnipresent across all segments, and I am sure this will only become more present. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE CORE VALUES YOU EXPERIENCED AT FRITZ KNOEBEL? I experienced community and global perspective the most during my time at Fritz Knoebel. Through altruism and hospitality, I have taken away that I have the knowledge, responsibility and privilege of changing lives and I think everyone in this industry should strive for the same Fritz Knoebel goal: “Be bold. Do good. Change lives.”
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Beverage Management Update The Fritz Knoebel beverage management course sequence has evolved significantly over the last 14 years. For students in the major—at least those with a significant interest in beverage alcohol—the sequence now consists of three courses: Beverage Management (fall); Advanced Beverage I- spirits, sake and beer (winter); and Advanced Beverage II- wine (spring). The sequence allows Fritz students to earn two important professional credentials—level-two certifications in spirits and wine from the Wine & Spirit Education Trust. It became apparent as the teaching team approached the design of the course sequence that we needed a broader, deeper collection to enable these students to enter the world of work with direct sensory experience with all the products addressed in the advanced sequence, particularly wine. Several years ago, thanks to a gift from Silver Oak and Twomey Cellars—sister wineries led by Daniels alum David Duncan (MBA 1994)—we converted a closet in our food and beverage classroom into an 800-bottle temperature- and humidity-controlled wine cellar to house our academic wines. We also began some very judicious buying.
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In spring 2020, Taylor Kirkpatrick (MBA 2004) gifted the School with part of his extensive fine wine collection. This gift meant we instantaneously outgrew our relatively new cellar. Faced with the need to properly store the entire collection—with space to fill in the significant gaps that remain—we made the decision to convert yet another space into an academic wine cellar. Thanks to the flexibility of the Goodman and Crown families, who named the technology center in the School when the Joy Burns Center was built, we converted this very underutilized space (technology has changed in the last 15–16 years and the need for devoted space eroded) into a showpiece academic wine cellar that will one day house 4,200 bottles. - David Corsun
Alumni Notes 2006
Booch, a line of hard kombucha beverages.
Aileen Reilly (BSBA 2006) and her brother Paul, owners of Coperta, Kevin Blunt (BSBA 2018) is the are opening a new restaurant, Apple manager, franchise operations at Blossom, in The Hyatt Centric in Wyndham Hotels & Resorts. downtown Denver. Shaileigh Blunt (née St. Clair) 2012 (BSBA 2018) is the catering Amy Campodonico (BSBA 2012) sales manager for Hilton Denver is now the director of banquets at Inverness. Hotel Colorado. Abigail Sheppard (BSBA 2018) is 2014 the manager of sales and marketing Grant Dupart (BSBA 2014) is at Knoebel Events. the principal at WalshDupart, a 2019 private real estate, acquisition and Josephine Schott (BSBA 2019) is the investment group in the hospitality campaign development specialist industry. at The Leukemia & Lymphoma 2015 Society. Maxwell Gleicher (BSBA 2015) is Sophie Hickcox (BSBA 2019) is a a development project assistant at social media marketing specialist at HomeFed Corporation. June Social, LLC.
2016
Chris Allmann (BSBA 2016) is an acquisitions associate at TMC Hospitality.
Rachel Hansen (BSBA 2019) is a talent acquisition coordinator at Global Salesforce.
Kelly Anderson (BSBA 2019) is a Jaliah “Peters” Crowley (BSBA winery ambassador at Domaine 2016) is the general manager Serene Vineyards & Winery in hospitality leader at RH Rooftop Dayton, Oregon. Restaurant at Restoration Hardware.
2017
Sarah Karpeles (BSBA 2017) is a senior client experience manager at Contemporary Catering.
2020
Arden Townsend (BSBA 2020) is an investment analyst at Sage Hospitality Group.
Elizabeth Massie (BSBA 2020) Nicole Germain (BSBA 2017) is a is a personal vacation advisor at senior financial analyst at ARIA Resort Inspirato. & Casino and Vdara Hotel & Spa. Blaine Farrell (BSBA 2020) is a 2018 corporate accountant at Ocean Michelle Litton (BSBA 2018) is a Properties Hotels Resorts and revenue management analyst at SH Affiliates. Hotels & Resorts. Myranda Nolan (BSBA 2020) Anna Zesbaugh (BSBA 2018) is the founder and president of Hooch
In Memoriam Laurie Nielsen-Singer Laurie NielsenSinger was born March 2, 1968, in Columbus, Nebraska, to Edward Nielsen Jr. and Jolaine (Loseke) Nielsen. She attended school in Columbus, where she was active in basketball, track and volleyball. Laurie graduated from Columbus High School in 1986 and attended the University of Arizona for a year. She then transferred to the University of Denver, where she played varsity volleyball and graduated with a degree in hospitality management in 1990. Laurie worked in the hotel industry for over 25 years, for companies like Renaissance Hotels, Marriott and Hilton. In August 2005, Laurie married Marc Singer in Austin, Texas. She was a member of King of Kings Lutheran Church and enjoyed following Nebraska Volleyball and attending her children’s activities. She died April 5, 2021. Credit: Columbus Telegram.
is a business office assistant at Hollybrook Senior Living.
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Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management 2044 E. Evans Ave. Denver, CO 80208-8921
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75 Years of Fritz Legacy...
Cheers to 75 More.