Through Senior Seminar, STHM seniors support current, future classmates
By: Jamie Cann
First Published: May 18, 2017
Topics: Connections, Industry Partnerships, STHM School
Seniors typically wait until they have graduated to present a class gift. That isn’t the case at Temple University’s School of Sport, Tourism and Hospitality Management.
STHM’s Class of 2017 contributed more than $8,000 in scholarships to the School. The graduating seniors donated $5,000 to STHM’s International Travel Scholarship, which supports study-abroad programs and global internship opportunities for future STHM students. The seniors also contributed three $1,000 gifts, for fellow classmates from each of STHM’s three sections of capstone students, to defray some of the travel and related expense costs that were incurred in their Spring 2017 internships.
The seniors presented the scholarship contributions in December at the school’s yearly semiformal networking event, celebrating their completion of STHM’s capstone course — the Senior Professional Development Seminar.
The course operates like a small- or mid-size business, with students working to receive donations and contributions during the Fall 2016 semester. The students organized bake sales, necktie sales, intramural football games, and Yankee Candle sales. They also arranged corporate sponsorship options, receiving potential auction items to collect additional revenue, and organized an event at which STHM faculty would be hit in the face with pies in exchange for donations.
“Through determination and team collaboration, fellow associates and I worked tirelessly to raise funds and acquire sponsorships throughout the semester,” said Alyssa Palo, one of three team leads in STHM’s Senior Seminar. “We are extremely proud to see that our efforts, along with those of the entire association yielded a total of $5,000 for the International Travel Scholarship.”
Palo will graduate in May with a Bachelor of Science degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management, with a concentration in Event Leadership. The Lansdale, Pa., native spent the Spring 2017 semester as an experiential marketing intern at Philadelphia-based branding agency Mole Street.
For Alex Fern, the sum total his graduated class gave back to STHM was worth that was required of him and his classmates.
“(Senior Seminar) wasn’t just STHM students sitting at fundraising tables in Speakman Hall a few times each week,” said Fern, another Senior Seminar officer.
Like Palo, Fern will graduate in May. The Wethersfield, Conn., native will receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Sport and Recreation Management, with a concentration in Governance and Policy.
“I got to know each associate on a more-personal level, as we spent early mornings and late nights planning the fundraisers that would support the International Travel Scholarship,” he said.
