MEMORY MAKERS
ACADEMICS
NEW HOSPITALITY PROGRAM NOT ONLY BRINGS BENEFITS TO THE ECONOMY, BUT WILL ALSO BRING THE MEMORIES OF A LIFETIME FOR A NEW GENERATION 52
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WE ALL HAVE OUR LONGTIME FAVORITE RESTAURANT. That place that has been around forever, and when we step inside we remember all the family gatherings, after-event celebrations and big personal moments that have occurred while gathered around those tables. Nashville has long been a place of hospitality, both personal and professional. The city’s tourism and hospitality industry generates close to $6 billion annually in the Middle Tennessee region with more than seven years of record-breaking growth. But hospitality is also about making sure that friends, families and maybe even new couples can enjoy those big moments of life at every meal. It’s about making sure hotel patrons sleep soundly on the vacation they will remember for a lifetime without ever knowing about a heightened security threat or disruption behind the scenes. Hospitality is about cultivating a heart for service, and Lipscomb’s hospitality program, which began its first classes this past fall, is about developing resilient leaders who can nurture that heart for service among their employees in the midst of a complex environment. “We know hospitality management includes making unforgettable moments for guests but it also involves impacting the lives of those employed in the field at every level … in these places humanity happens,” said Beth Morrow, director of industry relations in Lipscomb’s new School of Hospitality and Entertainment Management. Morrow has been working for the past year to develop the new program designed to meet workforce needs in the growing tourism and hospitality industries in Nashville and nationwide. “We see hospitality and entertainment management education and training as more than just equipping our students with the skills and knowledge to be successful,” said Morrow. “We also view developing leadership skills as crucial. That is something much deeper than
“...IN THESE PLACES, HUMANITY HAPPENS.” BETH MORROW
understanding the daily tasks necessary to make an event happen or a client have a comfortable stay. Learners committed to strategic financial management, decisionmaking, culture-shaping and serving others from a place of integrity will lead in the next 25 years.” And in Music City USA, there are certainly few industries more crucial and in need of leaders of integrity than hospitality and entertainment management. The industry employs 103,400 in the Nashville area and attracts 14.8 million visitors a year. Lipscomb’s school is one of the few in the country to offer a multidisciplinary approach to hospitality education. Through a collaboration of its arts and entertainment, business, and health science colleges, Lipscomb’s program is strategically designed as an integrated curriculum to provide a foundation in business
