Providing and Supporting Educational Opportunities
Harris Rosen is a proud advocate of a strong education. Here are some educational initiatives he supports:
Tangelo Park Program
One of Rosen’s greatest passions is for empowering and educating youth. Through programs like the Tangelo Park Pilot Program, which he created in the 1990s, Rosen continues to provide a free preschool education for all 2-, 3- and 4-year-olds in the Tangelo Park neighborhood, a disadvantaged community in Central Florida. The program also includes a multitude of mentoring programs and other educational initiatives each designed to assist neighborhood youngsters, preschool through high school and college.
Oprah presents Harris Rosen with the prestigious 2005 President’s Award at the “Power of a Dream Gala” in Washington, D.C. Rosen was honored by the U.S. Dream Academy, based in Columbia, Maryland, in recognition for his commitment to the Tangelo Park Program.
Most impressively, through the Tangelo program, all neighborhood youngsters accepted to a vocational school, community college, junior college or a 4-year public college in Florida receive a completely free education that includes tuition, books, room and board. Thus far, more than 200 youngsters have received full college scholarships from Rosen. And since 2008, Rosen has sponsored a group of Cornell University students who mentor the Tangelo Park elementary, middle and high school students for an “alternative spring break.”
To learn more about the Tangelo Park Elementary Program, click here.
Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Rosen is also committed to helping produce some of the best and brightest hospitality professionals in the business. Rosen donated 20 acres adjacent to Rosen Shingle Creek and $18.2 million to construct the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida (UCF). One of the fastest growing colleges in the nation, the Rosen College opened in 2004 with 500 students and had more than 3,500 by 2012. Rosen also established a $5 million endowment that provides about 100 scholarships annually.
MPI Foundation Scholarship Awards
But Rosen Hotels & Resorts didn’t stop there. The company partnered with the Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Foundation to provide three, four-year scholarships to deserving students who had been accepted into the 2011/2012 school year at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at the University of Central Florida. Each scholarship is valued at approximately $50,000 and covers tuition and fees, room and board, books, transportation and personal expenses for eight consecutive Fall and Spring semesters.
Learn more at www.hospitality.ucf.edu and www.mpiweb.org/Foundation/About
Cornell Students Spend Spring Break in Orlando
Helping Students
Since 2008, dedicated students from Cornell University have come to Orlando opting to spend their spring break in an “alternative” spring break program in which they mentor elementary and high school students from Tangelo Park. The collegians spend their days mentoring students at Tangelo Park Elementary and Dr. Phillips High School and work with preschool students at various Tangelo Park daycare facilities, and then spend their nights at Rosen’s luxurious AAA Four Diamond hotel, Rosen Shingle Creek. The students’ entire one-week stay, excluding airfare, is sponsored by Harris Rosen and the Harris Rosen Foundation.
Rosen Sales Team Walks the Talk
Rosen Hotels & Resorts convention sales team supports the many meetings and groups who initiate CSR activities at Rosen Plaza, Rosen Centre and Rosen Shingle Creek. And the Rosen Sales Team walks the talk. At their 2011 Annual Sales Meeting and Awards, the Rosen Sales Team chose together to use their social time to give back to Tangelo Park students. Together, they personalized and decorated more than 100 lunch boxes and filled them with treats each student who was to take the state FCAT exams the next week. The boxes contained a personal note of encouragement addressed to the student from the sales person, as well as was delivered in a gift bag with bottled water, a ruler and with a “dream book” for the student to use as a journal.
MPI Foundation Scholarships
But Rosen Hotels & Resorts didn’t stop there. The company committed a $150,000 scholarship fund to the MPI (Meeting Professionals International) Foundation. Through this fund, three qualified students will receive full scholarships including tuition, books, room and board to earn their four-year degrees at the Rosen College of Hospitality Management at UCF. Learn more at http://www.hospitality.ucf.edu/ and
www.mpiweb.org/Foundation/About.