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College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management

  • HRSM August 2023 news and notes graphic with headshots of Jessica Dong, Karen Edwards, Donna Watts, Madeline Eisenlord, Mani Madala

August 2023 HRSM student, faculty, staff and alumni notes

Posted on: August 2, 2023; Updated on: August 2, 2023
By Allen Wallace, awallace@sc.edu

In the News

Student Notes

  • Jake Brown (Sport and Entertainment Management) will be joining Gamecock Athletics as a communications intern for the 2023-24 school year.
  • Manikanta Madala (Master of Sport and Entertainment Management) was chosen to receive the Ron Labinski Scholarship from the Stadium Managers Association.
  • Connor Root (Sport and Entertainment Management) was voted MVP for the month of June at the new Nike Well-Collective store in Bethesda, where he is working this summer.
  • Hospitality Management Ph.D. students Swechchha Subedi and Lali Odosashvili and faculty member Associate Professor Marketa Kubickova published "Hotel employees’ support for federal government during crisis: Extension of social exchange theory" in the Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events.
  • Swechchha Subedi earned a Best Dissertation Proposal award at the annual ICHRIE conference in Phoenix.

Faculty Notes

  • Karen Edwards and Donna Watts presented "Preparing faculty to lead short-term education abroad courses" at the South Carolina Conference on Innovation in Teaching and Learning (SCCITL).
  • Scott Kaplan graduated from the College Business Management Institute, a three-year program sponsored by the University of Kentucky and the Southern Association of Colleges and University Business officers.
  • Jung-Hwan Kim published "Exploring the Effect of Interactivity on Consumer Responses in Virtual Reality" in Global Fashion Management Conference.
  • Marketa Kubickova was recognized by the SECSA-CHRIE federation for visionary guidance and exceptional leadership as SECSA-CHRIE president.
  • Stephen Shapiro published "A Segmentation Analysis of American Sports Bettors by Involvement" in the Journal of Sport Management.
  • Richard Southall was a panelist for the Aspen Institute’s Future of College Sports event, discussing the future of special admissions for college athletes.

Alumni Notes

  • Caitlin Ansel (Hospitality Management, '21) started a new position as convention services manager at Omni Louisville Hotel.
  • Chloe Baker (Retailing - Fashion Merchandising and Digital Innovations, '23) started a new position as operations coordinator with Amsale in New York City.
  • Zoe Baker (Sport and Entertainment Management, '23) started a new position as food and beverage and merchandise manager with the Florence Flamingos.
  • Kiley Burns (Sport and Entertainment Management, '19) started a new position as marketing manager, international franchise at Topgolf.
  • Silvia Chinellato (B.S. Tourism Management '19, Master of International Hospitality and Tourism Management ‘21) was promoted to head tennis coach at Mount St. Mary's University.
  • Sydney Daigle (Retailing - Fashion Merchandising and Digital Innovations, '23) accepted a new position as assistant merchant at Abercrombie & Fitch Co.
  • Skylar Deichmann (Sport and Entertainment Management, '23) started a new position as manager of new business with the Allen Americans Professional Hockey Club.
  • Jessica Dong (Tourism Management, '22) accepted a new position as regional assistant in the membership and commercial department at the World Travel and Tourism Council.
  • Madeline Eisenlord (Retailing, '23) accepted a new position as an inbound sales development representative with Flexport in Atlanta.
  • Sarah Frisch (Sport and Entertainment Management, '21) started a new position as hospitality and events associate at MKTG.
  • Grace Futterman (Retailing - Fashion Merchandising and Digital Innovations, '23) started a new position as a merchandise assistant in the Boys Apparel Buying Group at Belk.
  • Nia Grissett (Sport and Entertainment Management, '19) started a new position as regional human resources manager for BEST Security.
  • Rachel Harris (Sport and Entertainment Management, '22) started a new position as ticketing operations specialist at Feld Entertainment.
  • Jason Heath (Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Administration, '92) started a new position as vice president, resort operations with Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Company.
  • Ashlyn Lowery (Sport and Entertainment Management, '22) started a new position as human resources manager at CSC - Contemporary Services Corporation.
  • Anna Majors (Retailing, '15) started a new position as manager, customer supply chain at L'Oréal.
  • Seth McBrayer (Sport and Entertainment Management, '23) accepted a new position as an account executive for Furman Athletics.
  • Frederick Kitt (Sport and Entertainment Management, '18) started a new position as senior assistant director for special events at USC.
  • Courtney McKinney (Retailing - Fashion Merchandising and Digital Innovations, '22) started a new position as retail operations associate with AMB Sports and Entertainment.
  • Kelly (Ballance) Norris (Sport and Entertainment Management, '15) accepted a new position as senior design producer with Highmark Health.
  • Geovana Oliveira (Sport and Entertainment Management, '23) accepted a new position as a marketing assistant with DCT Karting.
  • Tara Parker (Hospitality Management and Retailing double major, Sport and Entertainment Management minor, '16) accepted a new position as digital marketing and communications manager for the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts in Austin, Texas.
  • Sara Pollin (Retailing - Fashion Merchandising and Digital Innovations, '20) started a new position as associate on the Raw Materials Footwear Team at Tory Burch.
  • Alec Shettle (Sport and Entertainment Management, '14) was promoted to director of event services at Colonial Life Arena.
  • Paul Stubbs (Hospitality Management, '22) accepted a new position as assistant housekeeping manager at the Westin Copley Place Boston.
  • Katie Switzer (Sport Management, '09) was promoted to events manager at Innovatis Group.
  • Alexis Vola (Retailing - Retail Management, '22) started a new position as an account executive at BlazerWorks.

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