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National Society of Minorities in Hospitality Conference 2006 

The HTM program brought 24 students to the NSMH conference in Dallas, Texas from February 8th to the 12th 2006. NSMH is an organization with 1,000 student members and over 50 universities including: Boston University, Cornell University, Culinary Institute, Johnson & Wales, Penn State, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, University of Delaware, Florida International University, Florida State University, Texas A&M, University of Houston, University of Memphis, Michigan State University, Purdue University, and so on.

It is a formidable group underwritten by 48 corporate sponsors, many of whom support the HTM program at SDSU. The purpose of the conference is to address issues of diversity and professionalism, and to create pathways for diverse individuals to go into leadership positions within hospitality organizations. The HTM program was fortunate to have an excellent contingent of students at their national conference this year. There are competitions for awards and scholarships, as well as an election of a national board which represents the member schools. San Diego State first became involved in the NSMH organization just three years ago when we founded its first chapter in California. Since then other chapters have joined in California including: Cal State Long Beach, Cal Poly Pomona, and San Francisco State University. In the last two years SDSU has held the western regional chair, one of five such regional chairs and one of thirteen overall on the national board. 

There were several wonderful developments for San Diego State during the NSMH conference:

First, SDSU student Adrian Torres was elected National Chair for NSMH, and remarkably he ran unopposed owing to some clever positioning he did during the year as Western regional chair. Adrian's leadership is exemplary and he will represent us well.

We were also fortunate to have Ms. Elida Espinoza run for the Western Regional Chair where she was also unopposed. Again this remarkable achievement with San Diego State running the Western region for the third year is an excellent reflection on the students leadership abilities, consensus building and leadership skills. We are all extremely proud of both Adrian and Elida and of the fact that we now have two of the thirteen board seats.
NSMH awards thirteen awards annually. These awards include: the most distance traveled, the new chapter of the year award, the best chapter overall and best activity award. Some are much more competitive than others. We are delighted to report that in addition to receiving the best scrapbook and best chapter activities award that reflect NSMH values, SDSU also received the very coveted Chapter of the Year Award beating out several very strong competitors. 

NSMH sponsors awarded 20 scholarships to leading students and we are delighted to report that SDSU students won 3 of those 20. Ching Tung Liao received an award from MGM /Mirage Casino, Adrian Torres received a scholarship from Harrah's, and Javier Riviera at a received a scholarship from Hilton. 

It was truly an embarrassment of riches for the HTM program throughout the conference. We received many dozens of congratulations from the sponsors, other universities, and the other students. SDSU students have, to paraphrase Norman Brinker, clearly "put SDSU on the map" . Please join me in congratulating the SDSU NSMH chapter which was lead this year by President James Tate and Vice President Lindsay Campbell. It is a remarkable team of individuals here who have done a remarkably good job. Congratulations to them all for representing San Diego State so beautifully.
www.nsmh.org

HOSPITALITY & TOURISM MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
San Diego State University
5500 Campanile Drive
San Diego, CA 92182-4514
Telephone: (619) 594-4964
Fax: (619) 594-4443
email: Carl.Winston@sdsu.edu