A year ago, Evan Brooks, a wide receiver on the Howard University football team, came to Las Vegas to play UNLV. The Bison, a 45-point underdog, pulled off the largest point spread upset in college football history, winning 43-40.
Brooks, along with six Howard University classmates and a student from Harvard, came back to Las Vegas earlier this month, and saw much more than Sam Boyd Stadium.
The students, brought to the city by the Washington D.C.-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, were given behind-the-scene tours of several Las Vegas Strip casinos, and gained an understanding of the manufacturing industry through a visit with a major gaming equipment supplier.
Students invited by the U.S. Chamber and AGA attended the RGEW panel in Las Vegas
The students also sat in on the American Gaming Association’s Responsible Gaming Education Week panel discussion at the UNLV International Gaming Institute and spent time after the event asking questions of the panelists and touring the Institute.
“This trip allowed us to understand the complexity of the gaming industry and the various policy issues this industry faces,” said Howard University student Julia Osagie.
Don’t think it was all business, though. The students saw the Michael Jackson One Cirque de Soleil Show at Mandalay Bay, and rode the High Roller Observation Wheel with Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear, a Howard University alumnus.
Rick Wade, Vice President of Strategic Alliances and Outreach for the U.S. Chamber, said the organization has built several partnerships with historically black colleges to expose students to various industries. The first trade organization to get involved was the American Gaming Association.
The AGA helped organize the Las Vegas visit, which included meetings with executives from MGM Resorts International, Caesars Entertainment and Aristocrat Technologies. The students also received back-of-the-house tours at Bellagio, Caesars Palace and the International Gaming Institute. On the way back to Washington D.C., the students made a side trip to Maryland Live! outside of Baltimore, where they met with several of the property’s top executives.
Casey Clark, vice president of strategic communications for the AGA, said the idea was to change perceptions about gaming, show students how the industry works, and present the job opportunities available in gaming.
Students invited by the U.S. Chamber and AGA meet with executives from Maryland Live!
“We’ve talked with our membership about the challenges of recruiting and retaining young people,” Clark said. “This was an opportunity to give those eight students an inside look at the industry and show that gaming is IT, security, finance and so many other areas.”
Clark said former AGA CEO Geoff Freeman made the original connection with the chamber, which would also introduce students to what industry associations are able to accomplish.
Wade said the program showed how business and government intersect.
“When you look at all the issues the gaming industry faces today, such as the growth of sports betting and responsible gaming, the students got a real world understanding from the highest levels in these industries.”
Tyler Gray, the lone student from Harvard, said he is now able to view gaming beyond any of the negative stereotypes. “There is much more to this industry than I imagined,” he said.
During the Responsible Gaming Week event, Bo Bernhard, executive director of the International Gaming Institute, recounted a meeting he had had with a South African government official during a trade mission with Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval to the country a week earlier.
Bernhard said the official hoped the gaming industry could invest up to $100 million into South Africa. He found the figure hilarious, saying gaming normally invests “10 times that amount” in most projects.
Las Vegas City Councilman Cedric Crear (right) visits with the students aboard the High Roller
That anecdote story caught the attention of Howard University student Fatou Sow, who grew up in Detroit but whose family is from Senegal. Having toured Bellagio a day earlier, Sow – who has worked in the chamber’s U.S.-Africa Business Center – said she gained a whole new perspective of the gaming industry.
“The opportunities and the job creation in several different fields stood out,” she said.
Wade said the success with the gaming industry trip could help the chamber expand the program to include other industries.
“It was tremendous exposure, and some of the students were getting aspirational offers to consider jobs in the gaming industry when they graduate,” Wade said. “That was nice to see.”
Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.
