An Unparalleled Network

Along with maintaining the Hotelie network, chapters promote the Cornell and Nolan Hotel School brand, educate the industry, and raise scholarship funds. “Everything we do meets one of those criteria,” said former global president Robert Mandelbaum ’81, director of research information services for CBRE Hotels Research.  

The society’s membership platform, The Lobby, is a professional and social community that provides connections with alumni worldwide. In noting the power of the network, CHS global president Jeffrey Scott, MPS ’91 said, “Along with many close personal relationships, all of my professional pursuits—in one way or another—came through the Cornell connection.”

CHS has a total membership of over 10,000. Students are welcomed as members of the collegiate chapter when they arrive on campus. “Besides instilling the Hotelie spirit among the students, the collegiate chapter fosters connections between students and alumni,” said Scott, founding president of the Germany chapter and partner at PKF hospitality group. “We’re all very willing to help because we know how we were helped in the past.” Once students graduate, they automatically become members and receive their first year of membership free. For their second through fifth years, they pay a reduced rate.

Executive education students who complete the General Managers Program or at least four Professional Development Program courses can join as affiliate members. “This allows us to expand our network, especially internationally, where people typically attend college in their home countries and pursue professional education in their areas of interest,” Boyle said.

Events Par Excellence

CHS is a global organization, but “local engagement and events are our lifeblood,” Scott said. These range from member-focused gatherings to hospitality events open to the broader industry. The society also hosts receptions in conjunction with large industry events. “They give us a presence where we otherwise might not have one,” Vinson said.

 Complementing these events are two annual regional meetings—one for EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa), held this past March in Amsterdam, and one for APAC (Asia-Pacific), which did not take place in 2023 but will be held in 2024 in Vietnam. These events—three-day extravaganzas of educational, networking, and social functions—are highlights of CHS networking outside North America. Auctions at these meetings raise funds for scholarships; at this year’s EMEA meeting, the auction brought in $50,000 to support three regional scholarships in executive education and graduate studies named for prominent European alumni.

In November 2022, CHS launched a new event, the Cornell Hotelie Hall of Fame, to recognize Hotelies for their contributions to the hospitality industry, the community, and the Nolan School of Hotel Administration. The Hotelie Hall of Fame was conceptualized by past CHS global president Ted Teng ’79; in its inaugural year, it honored 18 Hotelies, including the school’s first two deans, Howard Bagnall “H.B.” Meek and Robert Beck ’42. This year’s event, billed as “Hotelie Super Sunday,” takes place at the Pierre in New York City on November 12. It will include industry panel discussions involving Hall of Famers, a student/alumni brunch, and the New York City chapter’s annual reception.

CHS has a presence at most of the school’s major events. At the Cornell Hospitality Icon and Innovator Awards dinner, for example, the society sponsors tables and has a plate ceremony in which lifetime memberships are presented to the award recipients. 

And when the Office of Alumni Affairs holds events regionally, Vinson said, they invite local chapters to participate. For a “trifecta reception”—bringing together alumni, recent graduates, and current students from Dyson, Johnson, and the Nolan Hotel School—in New York City on July 12, they partnered with CHS New York City to have board member Adam Tang ’18 offer greetings.

Hotelies are known university-wide for their event prowess. Mandelbaum recalls hearing that in 2015, as Cornell started planning for a joint celebration in San Francisco of Cornell’s 150th anniversary and Stanford University’s 125th anniversary, the planners’ first stop was the local CHS chapter. “I see that happen a lot in cities where there’s a Cornell Club and a Hotel Society chapter,” he said. “When a big Cornell event occurs, the majority of the players tend to be Hotelies.”

Scholarship Support

Scholarships are integral to CHS’ mission: Its scholarship endowments exceed $7.3 million. The society offers 21 scholarships that support 24 students, with awards averaging over $24,000.

Recently, CHS raised over $450,000 for two endowments honoring Phil Miller ’83. Miller, who died in 2019, was director of alumni affairs at the Nolan School for many years “and our counterpart within the university,” said Boyle. “He was the essence of a Hotelie.” The Philippus Miller III Legacy Award supports travel to alumni events in New York City and internationally, allowing students to connect with alumni and experience the CHS global network. The Philippus Miller III Hotelie for Life Prize honors outstanding seniors who exemplify the Hotelie culture.

The organization also awards five scholarships to individuals taking executive education courses through the General Managers Program or the Professional Development Program.

At the local level, most chapters have scholarship funds that prioritize support for students from their region.

Cementing the Foundation

To ensure continuity, CHS established the Cornell Hotel Society Foundation in 1989. The Foundation, composed of former CHS presidents and appointed trustees, “provides leadership by actively supporting priorities of CHS and the school,” said foundation chair Bill Minnock ’79. “This allows us to keep the society’s vision of celebrating what it means to be a Hotelie for Life on track.”

Among its myriad functions, the foundation will soon launch an initiative under Mandelbaum’s direction in which students interview notable alumni. The interviews will be recorded and archived on the CHS website. In creating content for the website, Boyle said, “we like to reach up and down and across industries to have people connect in different ways.” 

This year’s activities of the CHS global board include continuing to promote and expand The Lobby; increasing communication among leadership and chapters; supporting chapters in organizing events; and focusing on financial sustainability.

Celebrating the Centennial

For many of the local chapters, the Nolan School’s 100th-anniversary celebrations were their first live events following COVID-19. “The pandemic brought things to a screeching halt,” Boyle said. “That was difficult for us because, as Hotelies, we thrive on meeting in person. So we got creative and took everything to Zoom, offering programs like virtual cocktail parties and Hotelie-led cooking demonstrations.”

During the yearlong centennial celebration, 35 chapters hosted events around the globe—ranging from small cocktail parties and dinners held by individual chapters to gala events at regional meetings. “Chapters that had been dormant throughout COVID used these events to bring us back together and revitalize our alumni community,” Boyle said. “We gave the chapters extra funds so they could hold events that were a bit splashier and do a bit more to attract alumni.”

Whether hosting events, raising funds, or providing support to the school or the industry, CHS is buoyed by the passion of its members.

“There’s just something special about this group,” Boyle said. “Even non-Hotelies want to join.”