DU’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management’s Learning by Example Attaining Distinction LEAD program is a new mentorship opportunity for Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management students.

This is the third year the LEAD Mentorship program has been in place.

However, it was only recently made available to Knoebel students, allowing all hospitality majors the opportunity to participate.

“We held our annual kickoff reception a couple of weeks ago, in which students and volunteer mentors were able to meet in a professional, yet social, setting and begin to engage with one another,” said David Corsun, director of the Fritz Knoebel School of Hospitality Management.

The LEAD program gives students an opportunity to learn about the hospitality management proactively from veterans of the trade.

Students are able to learn more about the work they do and the organizations in which the managers participate.

Corsun said there are many benefits for students who participate in LEAD.

The program allows students to build professional networks with other individuals in the field.

Additionally, the program allows for students to build first- hand experience at a company with prospective future jobs.

It also allows students to apply what they have learned and to see their studies of organizational culture and politics in person.

 LEAD gives them an idea of what to expect once they join the field after graduating.

“I started LEAD because it is a vehicle for engaging Denver’s hospitality community in the life of the school, and it provides our students an edge over those from other hospitality programs that can’t have a program like LEAD because they aren’t in major urban centers,” said Corsun.