Office of External Communications

Houston, TX 77204-5017 Fax: 713.743.8199

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 13, 2007

Contact: Marisa Ramirez
713.743.8152 (office)
713.204.9798 (cell)
mrcannon@uh.edu

HOUSTON, June 13, 2007—High school students are pulled in many directions by colleges and universities vying for their attention. The University of Houston Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management uses a rite of summer experience to attract new students—summer camp.

“We are a nationally ranked program, but there are others,” said Danny Arocha, director of enrollment at the college, which routinely is ranked one of the top hospitality programs in the country. “We don’t want potential students to rely completely on a brochure when considering a college. We want them to experience the program.”

Arocha directs the college’s Summer Camp 2007, set for June 25- 27 at the UH campus. Students from around the country learn about the hospitality industry first hand by engaging in fun activities that also are educational. These include touring Minute Maid Park and learning how to host 40,000 people for an event; visiting River Oaks Country Club and hearing from top management about creating the exclusive environment for their clientele; meeting officials from Carnival cruise lines and Hilton Americas Hotel to learn about the changing hospitality industry and how to stay in the game. Students will stay in the UH dormitories, play in the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center and eat at the various restaurant on campus. They’ll even have a party in the UH bowling alley.

“We know if we get them here, on campus, and give them a taste of the kinds of industry opportunities they would have in a city like Houston, we’re on our way to helping them choose UH,” Arocha said. “We also go to college fairs around the country in traditional attempts to recruit students, but getting them here is key.”

This year, students are coming from both coasts and the Midwest. Criteria to participate include grades, SAT or ACT scores and extracurricular activities.

Twenty-five percent of the students who have attended the camp have enrolled in the University of Houston, making the camp an important recruitment tool for the college.

“The Summer Camp helped me to see all the different things you could do with a hospitality degree,” said former camper and current UH sophomore Amanda Krost. “We toured many facilities in Houston and also got to see students who were working at these facilities or had graduated and were holding a management position.”

Arocha said the camp helps to fulfill the dream of Conrad Hilton, the college’s benefactor, who chose Houston as his college because of the opportunities the city provided.

“He always said that Houston was a major city, ‘and major hotels are in major cities.’ Houston is a laboratory of experiences for the next hospitality industry managers, and UH wants students to see first hand all that is possible,” Arocha said.

For the Summer Camp 2007 itinerary, visit the Web site.

For more information on the UH Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, visit www.hrm.uh.edu/.

About the University of Houston

The University of Houston, Texas’ premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.

For more information about UH visit the university’s ‘Newsroom’ at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.