Sands and Thurgood Marshall College Fund Host HBCU Students for Immersive Las Vegas Hospitality Experience

Sands and Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) welcomed 15 students from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) this summer for the second Sands Hospitality Immersion Program, which provided a deep introduction to the travel, tourism and leisure industry and its wide range of professional tracks.

Aimed at inspiring students to consider one of the world’s fastest-growing and largest employment fields, Sands created the program with TMCF, the only national organization exclusively representing the Black college community, to encourage diverse students to consider careers in hospitality while aiming to cultivate a diverse and inclusive workforce in the industry.

The Harrah College of Hospitality’s Sands Center for Professional Development at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) curated the multi-day Las Vegas immersion. Program elements included on-campus learning sessions with college faculty; industry speakers covering topics such as food and beverage operations, events and entertainment, and casino and gaming; and interactive activities such as a cooking competition led by executive chefs and hands-on learning at UNLV’s Konami Gaming Lab.

Denise Whitescott, a rising junior studying hospitality management at Morgan State University, said the program was eye-opening.

“I feel like a lot of people come into hospitality and don’t really know what’s possible – they think it’s just the hotels,” she said. “Coming into an immersion program like this one really helps students see the depth of the field and get a hands-on experience of working in an industry that’s so vast.”

Whitescott added that the encompassing look at different aspects of hospitality also helped her confirm her professional direction.

“This experience helped me hone in on where I want to go in the hospitality industry,” she said. “Before this experience, I wasn’t feeling as confident about the industry and was hoping I chose the right path. This immersion experience makes me feel more secure in my choice. I’ve found I’m very interested in the events and production management side of the industry.”

Trevor Elliott, a rising senior studying supply chain management at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, appreciated the unique, behind-the-scenes perspective of the program.

“Throughout the week, we met a lot of industry professionals, and it was amazing to learn about how the casino aspect of the business works, about back-of-house operations and front of house,” he said. “This experience is important for students. When we’re in school, we’re learning about these topics. But it’s different when you actually see the industry and this world of professionals and get that hands-on experience.”

Over the course of the program, students participated in special insider tours of integrated resorts, convention spaces and sports venues. They also visited Sands’ corporate headquarters and heard from professionals who outlined their experience in a wide range of disciplines and provided insights into the realm of professional service tracks within the hospitality industry.

“Beyond showing students the inner workings behind the glitter of Las Vegas, we were able to depict the depth of career opportunities our industry offers, especially during their visit to our corporate campus,” said Ron Reese, senior vice president of global communications and corporate affairs, who spearheads Sand Cares partnerships and chairs the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion council.

“Our executives gave them tangible insights on why the hospitality field is a great career path for people in accounting, finance, communications, sustainability, technology, procurement and more. We purposely selected students from a variety of disciplines for this program to inspire and encourage them to consider our field as they determine their career paths.”

Sands and TMCF designed the program to not only entice interest in the variety of hospitality tracks, but to open students’ eyes to tangible possibilities for their career interests.

“We have 10 HBCUs represented at this immersion, and the students from those HBCUs come from a wide array of different majors and academic interests,” Tristin Rainey, senior manager of learning and talent at TMCF, said. “But what unifies them is that they’re all learning about Las Vegas from a new scope.

“For many people coming here, they see Las Vegas as being only the gaming industry,” he continued. “But students are able to really go deeper into what it means to pair their different majors, to find careers here in a billion-dollar industry. They can start expanding their mindset when it comes to their career opportunities. They’re learning about the hospitality industry through the lens of hotels. They’re learning through the lens of marketing, how these big brands that have built this entire city up.”

The program’s curriculum featured presentations from top industry experts, including Bobbie Barnes, Ph.D., associate professor in residence at the Harrah College for Hospitality at UNLV. She provided a broad overview of the hospitality industry on the program’s first day and emphasized the breadth of career opportunities the industry offers.

“Hospitality and tourism is the largest industry in the world and it’s growing,” she said. “There are so many opportunities. It’s never been more important than now to have strong leaders in all of the different spaces. This is the place to be if you want to have a leadership role and make a difference in creating guest experiences.”

Many of the students began to see possibilities.

“I’m a supply chain management student and so it’s interesting to see the different career paths and opportunities that are available to me,” Elliott said. “This experience has given me a great understanding of how the different areas of hospitality work.”

The Sands Hospitality Immersion Program is part of the Sands Cares global community engagement program and one of the company’s many education, workforce development, and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Other avenues Sands pursues to advance hospitality education and interest in the industry include contributions to and partnerships with higher education institutions, funding for scholarship programs, on-property and industry-supported training opportunities for students and hospitality professionals, and mentorship and instruction from company leaders.

To learn more about the Sands Cares community engagement program, Sands’ priority on workforce development in the hospitality industry, and other diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, read the company’s latest ESG report:

https://www.sands.com/content/uploads/2024/06/LVS-ESG-Report-2023.pdf

To learn more about Thurgood Marshall College Fund, visit https://www.tmcf.org/.