Hospitality Management Student Wins Top Award for Leadership

Tristan Wenger, a student in the B.S., Hospitality Management/M.S., International Hospitality Management program in The Lesley H. and William L. Collins College of Professional Studies (CCPS), recently won the 2022 Hospitality Student of the Year Award from Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI)’s New York City Chapter conference.

The award was in recognition for his work with the association in early 2022, as well as for his other hospitality experiences. The conference hosted approximately 250 attendees from 14 different universities around the world. 

Tristan helped create and moderate HSMAI’s 2022 Intercollegiate Virtual Global Conference. He was responsible for cultivating and interviewing panels such as Industry Trends in Sales and Marketing, Alumni Insights on Career Development, and “can do” motivational practices with keynote speaker Bart Berkey.

This opportunity was provided to Tristan by April M. Merenda, Program Coordinator for the Master of Science in International Hospitality Management program and CCPS Faculty Representative for HSMAI.

“Tristan is a great representative of St. John’s International Hospitality Management program,” said Prof. Merenda. “In addition to his work for the 2022 Intercollegiate Virtual Global Conference, he also landed a front office intern job with the Conrad Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. There he participated in overseeing effective operations of the executive office and was involved with interdepartmental coordination.”