University of South Carolina College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management

We have so much to be thankful for this year, including constant great career news coming in for students and alumni! Congratulations to Alyssa Odell (Hospitality Management, '24) on accepting a 2025 U.S Open Volunteer Administration Internship with the United States Golf Association (USGA), and to Sport and Entertainment Management senior Erin Lewantowicz on accepting an offer to join the Cleveland Cavaliers as an Account Executive on The Foundation Ticket Sales Team starting in June 2025! Check our monthly News and Notes story for lots more great news, and be sure to share yours! https://lnkd.in/erGUXEgP

At HRSM, a game is often much more than just a game, and research isn't always done at a desk. Last year, Sport and Entertainment Management Ph.D. student Colleen Dibble connected with Professor Danny Morrison and his staff at the Charlotte Sports Foundation to propose a joint project between the Foundation and the Ph.D. program. The research project, conducted by Dibble, fellow Ph.D. student Grace Kazmierski-Davie and Department of Sport and Entertainment Management Professor Joseph Herman, is titled “Fan Motivation in the New Era of Women’s Collegiate Basketball: A Comparative Study of High-Profile Women’s and Men’s College Basketball Events." The study addresses a critical gap by examining fan motivations at high-profile women’s college basketball events, which are defined as smaller than mega-events (Müller, 2015; Roberts, 2004) but distinct from regular-season games. Dibble, Davies and Herman aim to identify the primary motivations for attending these events and explore how they differ between women’s-exclusive and mixed-gender events. Recently, students from the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management master's and undergraduate programs conducted data collection at the 2024 Ally Tipoff in Charlotte, a two -game event featuring the defending national champion Gamecocks, N.C. State, Iowa and Virginia Tech. Our HRSM students engaged with the crowd of 15,424, collecting survey data to be utilized by the Charlotte Sports Foundation for future events, and for an anticipated presentation at the North American Society for Sport Management (NASSM) conference in May 2025. Dibble says "This unique opportunity to partner with the Charlotte Sports Foundation led by Dr. Danny Morrison, Executive Director of the Charlotte Sports Foundation as well as a University of South Carolina Department of Sport and Entertainment Management faculty member, is one of the many unique opportunities offered by our program, enabling our students to develop valuable real-world skills while furthering their education in the sport industry."

"Each change in my career has been driven by a curiosity about the next piece of the puzzle." Meet Sara Bako. A University of South Carolina College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management alumna and division president for London Times, a subsidiary of popular dressmaker Maggy London. #GamecocksofNY ??

What better week to share how thankful we are to have Gary Sobba join the Department of Sport and Entertainment Management faculty as a Professor of Practice? He brings decades of experience in sport management as a leader in college athletics and with the PGA TOUR. Fun fact: he's visited 126 college football stadiums! Read more: https://lnkd.in/e8QbryFQ

Tonight in prime time, the Los Angeles Rams take on the Philadelphia Eagles, with University of South Carolina Sport and Entertainment Management alumni behind the scenes on both sides. No matter which team wins, we're proud of Eli Corenthal, Lauren Hayes, Lillian Shevlin and Rose Spagnuolo! Click to see more of our grads now working in the nation's most popular sport: https://lnkd.in/e2vmrm5Y

Thanks so much to Milliken & Company for welcoming Department of Retailing students, faculty and staff (led by Mike Watson, Ed.D, Ashley Richardson and Lyndsey Herring) to their fantastic facility in Spartanburg this week! Special thanks to Sustainability Engagement Specialist Emily Skaggs, who led the group on a fascinating and informative tour, as well as facilitating opportunities to hear from and network with other Milliken leaders. The students learned about just how much we all interact with Milliken products daily, and about career possibilities for the future.

Thanks to Professor Catheryn Khoo for leading "Joyful Scholarship Workshop: A Workshop for Sustainable Productivity" for HRSM faculty and staff this week! The workshop is based on her book, "Joyful Scholarship." Professor Khoo, a Fulbright Scholar, is a multiple-award-winning consultant on tourism marketing and inclusion, with a focus on women. She has served as Regional Field Expert for the UNWTO/UN Women's Global Report on Women in Tourism, as Editor-in-Chief for the scientific journal "Tourism Management Perspectives," and as former Second Vice-Chair for the Council for Australasian Tourism and Hospitality Education.

Thanks to Russell Branham, Managing Director, Business Operations at Darlington Raceway, for taking time to visit campus and speak to Michael Hargrave's Business of NASCAR class in our Department of Sport and Entertainment Management. The Track Too Tough to Tame has been a longtime supporter of HRSM and has offered many opportunities for our students and alumni.

Thanks to all who made the 2024 SEVT Conference a success! From special guests like Atlantic Coast Conference Commissioner James Phillips, The Savannah Bananas Owner Emily Cole and Oak View Group President International Sam Piccione III to an all-star roster of other panelists and presenters, the dozens of teams, venues and organizations who came to meet their next hires at the Career Fair to HRSM faculty, staff and students who made it all run like a well-oiled machine, it was truly a conference to remember. Check our Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for lots more pictures and video, and click to read more: https://lnkd.in/d5nqDwnj

Thanks to Hilton Honors Program Vice President Brad Anderson and his colleagues Devin Kaltenbach and Aanchal Agarwal for taking to time to share their knowledge with Darron Kirkley's Hospitality Loyalty Strategy class last week! Thanks also to Priscilla Mint of Hilton for helping facilitate.Read more about the class: https://lnkd.in/eth-tg25