The Scarlet’s new academic space will offer a ‘living laboratory’ for UNL hospitality students

By Connie White

Growing up, Abby Cantrell of Lincoln often traveled with her father to conventions and other events around the country. She attended dinners, banquets and concerts, seeing firsthand the results of months of behind-the-scenes preparation by corporate event planners. The experience — and her love of travel — drew her to pursue a career in the field.

“I like the happiness that it can bring other people,” said Cantrell, a junior in the Hospitality, Restaurant and Tourism Management (HRTM) program at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. “Event planning can be stressful work, but to see the smiles on their faces after an event lets me know that I was able to make their day.”

Cantrell and other students in the HRTM program will soon learn in a new academic space — one that extends their learning beyond the classroom.

In fall 2025, the HRTM program will move from its current location in Leverton Hall on East Campus to The Scarlet on the Nebraska Innovation Campus. The 154-room Marriott Tribute property, the only hotel on campus, was designed to celebrate Nebraska, with each room highlighting a Nebraska town. The hotel is owned, operated and managed privately, with the academic space managed by the College of Education and Human Sciences.

Fundraising for the first phase of the project, which includes 6,000 square feet of academic space, is complete, and construction is underway. The project is supported by a grant from the Economic Development Administration and a leadership gift from Dean and Jessie Rasmussen of Omaha. Additional private support is being sought for a phase two project to build a 4,000-square-foot commercial teaching kitchen in the hotel.

Ajai V. Ammachathram, Ph.D., HRTM program director, said the academic space in The Scarlet will serve as a “living laboratory” for students, with classrooms, a conference room, lounge space for students and faculty offices.

“The classroom can only take you so far in a major like this,” Ammachathram said. “The students have to experience it.”

The hospitality industry is the third largest revenue generator in Nebraska, with nearly 100,000 people working in the leisure and hospitality sector. In 2022, tourism spending contributed $4.3 billion to Nebraska’s economy.

Ammachathram said that, with the hospitality boom post-COVID-19, the program’s graduates are in high demand. The placement rate has been outstanding, with 150 job offers among the 50 students who graduated in the 2022-23 academic year. He said hospitality students have come to their faculty advisers to say, “I have two or three offers. Which one should I pick?”

Students choose from among six emphasis areas: hotel management, club management, event management, food and beverage management, tourism and human resources. There are 250 students in the program, with 100 majors and 150 minors.

Students must complete three internships before graduation. One of the internship experiences offered through the program is at the Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia, where students work as bartenders and servers in hospitality cabins and suites for 10 days.

Cantrell, who has worked at the tournament twice, said that in her first year, she was nervous because she knew “there would be very important people in the room.” In her second year, she returned to the Masters as a student lead from UNL. The staff quickly bonded, she said, and they worked together to provide patrons with exceptional service. She said the experience enhanced her communication, teamwork and customer service skills and showed her firsthand that little details matter.

“Getting the internships and on-the-job experience is probably the most important part of what we do in our program,” said Cantrell, who also has a part-time job at a Lincoln event venue. “Until you learn how to apply what we’re learning and get experience doing that, it’s hard to imagine how to put on an event.”

Lyv Williams, a UNL sophomore from Columbus, Nebraska, also provided hospitality for the Masters Tournament last spring. “That was probably the coolest experience of my entire life,” she said. “I know nothing about golf, but I know a lot about hospitality.”

She also completed an internship this summer at an Omaha event planning and floral arranging business. Williams said her goal is to someday start her own business planning weddings and other events.

Williams said the HRTM program provides her with the foundation she’ll need to run her own business. She also appreciates seeing what she learns in action, so she’s excited to take classes in The Scarlet.

“It showcases so many different aspects of hospitality — a restaurant, coffee shop, event space,” Williams said. “Not to mention, the whole building is stunning.”

Fundraising continues for the commercial teaching kitchen at The Scarlet. Gifts may be made online to the Hospitality, Restaurant and Tourism Management Development Fund through the University of Nebraska Foundation.