Hospitality Management Students Taking Guests to the Boardwalk at SMASH

SMASH Committee

SMASH is a dining and networking fundraiser for students in Bumpers College's hospitality management program.

Boardwalk Bash will treat guests to the food, sights and sounds of a traditional boardwalk entertainment district for this year's SMASH event being put on by students in U of A's hospitality management program.

SMASH — Students Mastering the Art of Southern Hospitality — is a dining and networking fundraiser for the program. The event highlights the food selection, preparation and service, and event planning and execution by students.

Boardwalk Bash is this year's theme, and the event is from 6-9 p.m., Saturday, April 9, in the Arkansas Union's Verizon Ballroom.

"It has been exciting planning and coordinating this event," said Kaitlyn Kelly, a senior from Lincoln. "Having the opportunity to plan a large event from the ground up entirely for the hospitality program is an experience I am very proud to be a part of." 

Two hospitality classes in the School of Human Environmental Sciences, which is part of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, are using the semester to coordinate and execute the event. A SMASH class is handling the planning and organization, under the direction of instructor Dede Hamm.

Meanwhile, a cooking lab class, Cultures and Cuisines of the World, is in charge of the meal, under the direction of instructor Lobat Bayyari.

The cooking class is the same one preparing and serving meals on Mondays and Wednesdays in Pineapple Café, a lunch service held in the Maudine Sanders Commons in the Human Environmental Sciences Building.

Tickets to SMASH are available for $75 each and can be purchased here. Tickets for HESC faculty and staff are $60, for hospitality alumni $50, a student family package for two is $120 and a SMASH couples package is $130.

Sponsorships for seat and table options include various VIP packages: bronze (two guests, $250), silver (four guests, $500), golden (six guests, $1,000), platinum (eight guests, $2,500) and Diamond Pineapple Packages (10 guests, $5,000) with company recognition and promotion. All packages include the reception, dinner, beer and wine.

Tickets and sponsorships are available now through April 5. Tickets will not be available at the door the day of the event.

Proceeds benefit the hospitality management program through scholarships, resources, equipment and funds for educational travel.

"I am most looking forward to us, the students, being able to show our friends, family and other important people in the hospitality industry what we are capable of and how much we have learned in our time at the University of Arkansas," Kelly said.

Students on the Marketing and Design Committee are Katrina Munn, Liam Behee, Kelly Blome, Olivia Clark, Anna Harris, Payton Hart, Natalie Meacham, Kendall Page and Taylor Stevenson.

The Sponsor Management and Finance Committee includes Lindsey Winters, Devan Andres, Alexa Everett, Jonathan Fischer, Micaylee Graham, Faith Harlin, Ashley Hill, Gracie Rogers and Luke Stroh.

The Project Management and Logistics Committee consists of Ramie Rice, Lauren Drimmel, Lauren Evans, Ashley Mattingly, Elli Overton, Emma Rohde, Caroline Ross, Margaret Rosser and Mahlen Waugh.

Students on the Promotion and Communication Committee are Kelly, John Behee, Eveline Alford, Caroline Cooper, Maricela Herver, Lyrette Irabaruta, Lauren Kehm, Gina Lor and Maggie Roach.

The Production and Technology Committee includes Kara Kane, Mary Deren, Grace Desautels, Jacquelyn Hays, Briana Pascale, Gilbert Pena, Rebecca Sutton and Lily Williamson.