Editor’s note: in response to an opinion article by Stuart Cobb.

I’d like to take this opportunity to respond your spirited article in the Oct. 13 edition of the Clarion. 

Aside from noting that you have an amazing amount of free time to be attacking a significant subset of students at the University of Denver, I also want to note that your claims are misguided.

Let me begin by disclosing that my major is HRTM and my minor is Leadership Studies. I wonder what research, if any, you did about our program before you decided to proclaim HRTM as the “granddaddy of all phony areas of study”? 

Do you know that after government, the largest sector of employment is the tourism industry?

Maybe you didn’t know about the 1,000 hours of work experience requirement, half of which must be in a managerial capacity? 

Do you actually know how much goes into operating a Red Robin franchise? 

Perhaps you forgot about the business savvy, human resources knowledge, considerable forecasting ability, business law knowledge and the talent to work with a diverse team that it takes to own a restaurant.  

Have you heard about any of our prominent alumni who own restaurants and other hospitality operations? Peter Morton, founder of Hard Rock Café, for example.

But what I find most distressing about your article is that you are directly insulting the more than 250 students that are HRTM majors.

We don’t have to talk about how mad the PLP students are. That’s for a separate response. 

Many of the students actually pay for their own education in some way.  Attempting to degrade their career goals is a low blow.  

The fact that you also demean their literacy is also quite distasteful. Suggesting that HRTM majors cannot read beyond food product boxes is hardly an invitation to intelligent discourse. 

I can tell you that each of the 50+ seniors in the program completed a management internship last summer. Some were in major 5-star hotels, and some were completed overseas. 

In my time, here I have now completed three internships, 2 of which were in Europe. 

Responding to your attempt to be funny, many students, faculty, staff and alumni are striving to create a campus culture of collaboration and openness to educational inquiry.

Blatantly disregarding this and criticizing the intellectual interests of others for a quick laugh has many people frustrated with your words. 

I would encourage you, or anyone who hopes to write for comedic purposes to remember who their audience is, and cracking a joke at the expense of another person is dishonorable and will only make you look bad at the end of the day.

Now, I cannot just go on ranting, so I have a positive challenge for you:   Enroll in the Beverage Management Class  (the wine tasting class you mentioned in your article) and let’s see how you do. 

I’m in it now, and I can tell you that it’s not just a fancy form of pre-gaming.   But hey, what do I know?

Antoine Perretta

Undergraduate student body president

Senior, HRTM major