{"id":13524,"date":"2017-06-26T14:41:38","date_gmt":"2017-06-26T14:41:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/?p=13524"},"modified":"2018-05-09T14:35:57","modified_gmt":"2018-05-09T14:35:57","slug":"rocco-angelo-legacy-in-leadership-campaign","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/2017\/06\/26\/rocco-angelo-legacy-in-leadership-campaign\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospitality alumni honor mentor, support students, through Rocco Angelo Legacy in Leadership Campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"

Alumni of the\u00a0FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management<\/a>\u00a0have donated more than half a million dollars to a fund that honors their beloved professor Rocco Angelo, an associate dean who has mentored generations of hospitality students and helped them succeed.<\/p>\n

Three alumni are leading the way: Burt Caba\u00f1as, founder and chairman of BENCHMARK\u00ae, a global hospitality company; Regynald G. Washington, CEO and member of the board of directors of Hojeij Branded Foods; and Eric Pfeffer, founder and president of The Pfeffer Group.<\/p>\n

Washington and Pfeffer donated $100,000 each to the\u00a0Rocco Angelo Legacy in Leadership Campaign<\/a>, and Caba\u00f1as matched both donations. So far, the campaign has raised $600,000, which will fund scholarships, mentoring programs, career services, student enrichment opportunities, and help with recruitment initiatives and alumni engagement efforts. The goal is for all alumni of the Chaplin school to get involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an educator, the greatest gift is to see your students succeed beyond their wildest dreams and then leverage that success to give the same opportunity to the next generation,\u201d said Angelo, who at 85 still goes to work every day. \u201cI am proud of Burt, Regynald, Eric and all of the alumni who have and will contribute to this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pfeffer, who graduated in 1977, is among the alumni with a story about how Angelo changed his life. After graduation, Pfeffer was weighing job offers from The Plaza Hotel in New York and Howard Johnson in the Orlando area. The Howard Johnson position made more sense for his growing family but he was conflicted, until Angelo weighed in with advice.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said the following: \u2018Eric, do not be blinded by the glamour. Someone has to be president of Howard Johnson,\u201d Pfeffer recalled.<\/p>\n

Pfeffer accepted the Howard Johnson assistant manager position and did, in fact, rise to become president of what was then the 10th<\/sup>\u00a0largest hotel chain in the United States. Now he is challenging other alumni to give back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat better way to celebrate Rocco\u2019s life than to support the endowment that will benefit Chaplin School\u2019s students in the future?\u201d Pfeffer said. \u201cI am a perfect example of a student whose life was forever changed by Rocco\u2019s advice at a major crossroad in my career. I challenge all my fellow alumni to honor Rocco\u2019s legacy by contributing to this campaign.\u201d<\/p>\n

Washington, who graduated in 1974, and Caba\u00f1as, a 1976 graduate, have answered that challenge. Washington wrote a check after hearing Pfeffer praise Angelo at a dean\u2019s advisory council meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cListening to Eric\u2019s story, I felt the impetus to contribute to Rocco\u2019s campaign,\u201d Washington said. \u201cLike Eric and other alumni, I benefited enormously from Rocco\u2019s guidance and vision for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caba\u00f1as was originally going to donate $25,000 but committed $200,000 after Washington and Pfeffer committed themselves to the campaign.<\/p>\n

\u201cA legend in the hospitality industry, Rocco Angelo has personally led thousands of students and alumni on their academic and professional paths to success,\u201d Caba\u00f1as said. \u201cIt is our responsibility as well as our privilege to honor Rocco by giving to the campaign. This is our chance to show our gratitude.\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more, please visit the Chaplin School\u2019s\u00a0campaign page.<\/a>\u00a0For online donations, please visit the\u00a0Give Online Now<\/a>\u00a0page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alumni of the\u00a0FIU Chaplin School of Hospitality & Tourism Management\u00a0have donated more than half a million dollars to a fund that honors their beloved professor Rocco Angelo, an associate dean who has mentored generations of hospitality students and helped them succeed. Three alumni are leading the way: Burt Caba\u00f1as, founder and chairman of BENCHMARK\u00ae, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":13526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[367],"tags":[149,307,366],"class_list":["post-13524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-network-news","tag-chaplin-school-of-hospitality-and-tourism-management","tag-panther-networks","tag-philanthropy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13524"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15356,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13524\/revisions\/15356"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fiualumni.com\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}