Sport management senior dinner to be ‘night with the stars’
By: Lyndsey Diggs- Senior, Sport Management
As the seniors arrive, the room is filled with an aura of bittersweet anticipation. Some tears are shed, but even more laughter fills the room. Tuxedos, suits, dresses and gowns envelop the ballroom. As each senior proudly walks down the red carpet, passing their own star on the “Walk of Fame,” glints of sadness and fulfillment simultaneously fill their eyes as they prepare for the many journeys soon to come and remember the legacies they will leave behind in their years here.
The Health and Sport Science Department has gone to great lengths to congratulate and send off its industrious graduating sport management students in tremendous fashion. With awards season in full sway, 20 sport management students’ accomplishments, legacies and sacrifices will be honored with “A Night With the Stars” celebration dinner.
The University of Dayton community is invited to join in the celebration of their accomplishments.
These seniors have spent countless hours under the instruction of Corinne Daprano and Peter Titlebaum. They have perfected resumes and portfolios, honed the skill of interviewing and wouldn’t dare dress less than business casual. Students like senior sport management major Marlena Hoendorf are grateful for the opportunities that the program has helped them earn.
“When I think about being a senior I think about being done with the best four years of my life,” Hoendorf said. “I am very excited to start the next chapter of my life. But, I am so sad to see my college years come to an end. Being a sport management senior means leaving a group of people that have become such great friends of mine. I had great advisors that forced me to do things I would never imagine myself doing.”
This senior class has dedicated close to 50,000 hours of experience in their respective fields of interest, giving their time, effort and talents to organizations such as the Northern Texas Junior PGA Tour, Pop Warner Football SuperBowl, Cincinnati Bengals, Indiana Pacers and Association of Luxury Suite Directors.
“We did not prepare you for your first job. What we did was invest in your success,” Titlebaum said. “While it will take you some time to get where you are headed, we have no doubt that if you embraced that life is in the details, success is headed your way. Keep us posted, and know you will always be a Flyer to us.”
These were his final words of wisdom to bestow upon the seniors before they embarked upon the new and exciting adventures that the real world has to offer.
The dinner will focus on the contributions the May 2014 graduates have had on the industries in which they have worked and their lasting impact on the program.
“The University of Dayton has given me the courage and confidence to move on and be successful in my life,” senior sport management Rachel Myers said. “The sports management program at UD is like a family. Doc T [Titlebaum] and Dr. Daprano have helped me the whole way and been supportive. I am a non-traditional student and they have always worked with me and made me feel accepted into that family.”
Please join the sport management students for a star-studded evening on Tuesday, April 22, in the Time Warner Flight Deck of UD Arena from 6 to 8 p.m. Dinner and dessert will be served. There will be an admission fee of $5 for any non-senior in the sport management program wishing to attend the event, and $10 for any non-sport management majors.
It will be a light-hearted, yet glamorous night with the stars to set the mood for graduation and send the seniors off in proper fashion. I hope to see you there. Mark your calendars; this is an event you won’t want to miss.