Fifth IUP Student Selected for Statler Foundation Scholarship

Silas Gesser

Silas Gesser, a senior in Indiana University of Pennsylvania's Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management bachelor's degree program from Westmoreland County, has been awarded the prestigious Statler Foundation's Scholarship of Excellence.

Gesser, of Seward, is the fifth IUP student chosen for this competitive scholarship.

The scholarship is awarded based on academic excellence, character, and commitment to the industry.

The Statler Foundation was created from the estate of hotelier Ellsworth M. Statler following his death in 1928. Its purpose is to support research work and train employees for the benefit of the hotel industry.

Statler, a self-made millionaire who worked his way from bellhop to industry legend, founded the largest premier hotel chain of his day. The Statler Scholarship of Excellence was established in 1997 and is awarded to students who demonstrate a high degree of academic performance and aptitude in studying the hotel management field, and who aspire to a career in the hotel industry after graduation.

Gesser, son of Cynthia Gesser of Seward and Matthew Gesser of New Oxford, is a 2020 graduate of Gettysburg Area High School.

Prior to his current academic studies, Gesser completed both the IUP Academy of Culinary Arts' Culinary Arts program and the Academy's Baking and Pastry program, achieving dean's list status during his studies there, and was president of the Culinary and Baking Student Association during the 2020-21 academic year. He is the recipient of the Tony and Emma Ricupero Scholarship and the American Culinary Federation Pittsburgh Chapter Scholarship and is a dean's list student in his current studies.

"My commitment to the hospitality industry truly runs deep," Gesser said. "Upon finishing culinary school and baking and pastry school, the hospitality management program has opened my eyes to so many amazing career paths I never knew existed. The realm of hotel work, no matter the size and scale of the operation, represents nearly every part of the hospitality industry, which is why it is the perfect career choice for me," Gesser said.

"Earning this scholarship will shore up any doubts and stressors about finances and will prove to me that my hard work has been worth it, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The hospitality industry is my one true passion. I am very grateful to the Statler Foundation for their generosity."

Gesser worked as a pastry cook at Nemacolin Resort in Farmington during summer 2023, as a garde manager and hot line cook for the Duquesne Club in Pittsburgh from August 2021 to July 2022, and as a line cook for Perkins Restaurant and Bakery in Gettysburg from January 2018 to July 2022, where he was honored with the employee of the year award in 2019. He currently works as a line cook at the Chestnut Ridge Golf Resort and Conference Center in Blairsville.

"Our relationship with the Statler Foundation is one we are very grateful to have and very proud of our students who have engaged with the Staler Foundation," Chef Jeffery Santicola, chair of the Hospitality and Employment Relations Department, said.

In May 2022, the Statler Foundation gifted $125,000 to IUP to construct a hotel front desk simulation lab for students in the Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management program. The simulation desk lab, located in a classroom in IUP's Eberly College of Business building, home to the program, was officially named in honor of the Statler Foundation in March 2024.

"The Statler Foundation relationship has not only benefited the students who have been awarded scholarships, but all the students in our program through the Foundation's generous donation to construct our Staler Foundation Hotel Simulation Lab on the first floor of the Eberly College of Business. Each student in the Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management program will have classes, meetings, and activities in this new space, which further enhances our students' educational experience," he said.

IUP's first Statler Foundation recipient was Kyle Kubicko, of Natrona Heights, who was selected for the scholarship in 2021. He earned a bachelor's degree in hotel, restaurant, tourism, and event management and an associate degree in applied science in culinary arts and graduated with his MBA in May. He is the kitchen and event manager at the River Forest Country Club in Freeport.

Josephine Vance from Natrona Heights received the Statler Foundation scholarship in 2022. She completed her IUP degree in hotel, restaurant, tourism, and event planning in 2023 and began work in 2023 as the assistant catering operations manager, SSA Group, Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium. She was named catering manager at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium in 2024.

Elizabeth Haffling, a hotel, restaurant, tourism, and event planning major from Martinsburg, received the scholarship in 2023. She graduated with her bachelor of science degree in May and is in the HYATT Corporate Management Training Program, designed for graduates to become an integral member of Hyatt's leadership team. Haffling completed IUP's Academy of Culinary Arts certificate program in 2015 and the baking and pastry certificate program in 2016.

Emma McAnulty, a May graduate of IUP's hotel, restaurant, tourism, and event management program with a concentration in tourism and special events, was a Statler Foundation's Scholarship of Excellence recipient in spring 2024. She is working at the Myrtle Beach Hilton as a manager in training.

Tracing its lineage at IUP back to 1916, the IUP Hotel, Restaurant, Tourism, and Event Management program has provided an exceptional education to its students who are interested in pursuing a career in this exciting field, offering specialized knowledge and skills for managing the businesses within the hospitality industry.

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