SUMMER CAMP AT UH TOUTS HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY
AND COLLEGE’S CREDENTIALS
Annual Event Offers Learning Opportunity as it Attracts Future Students
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 universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
|