(Above) Regan Stoll (front, left) and Autumn Montague (front, right) are among the students in the class of Niki Davis (back, left) who created marketing plans for the Varsity Center with Billy Robbins as board president. They are shown in the lobby, which still features the original lighting. (Below) Montague and Stoll stand outside the Varsity. (Photos by Russell Bailey)
May 09, 2025
SIU students create marketing plans for real clients, including an iconic theater
CARBONDALE, Ill. — As the iconic Varsity Theater prepares to celebrate its 85th birthday next month, a Southern Illinois University Carbondale senior hospitality marketing management class presented proposed marketing plans for the Varsity Center’s second life as an arts and entertainment venue.
It’s all part of the experiential learning that’s intrinsic to the classes taught by Niki Davis, director of the hospitality, tourism and event management (HTEM) program and professor of practice.
“Our mantra is that the community is part of our classroom, and this project illustrates that,” Davis said. “The idea is for them to explore real-world challenges and issues and viable marketing plans that translate into real-world applications.”
Billy Robbins, board president of the Varsity Center, was excited when Davis offered to have her students create marketing plans for the not-for-profit center.
“The Varsity is a great living lab,” Robbins said. “Students can develop real practical curriculum vitae level experience that they can put on their resumes. We are thrilled to provide this opportunity and take part in this level of marketing experience. What’s exciting about marketing is the foundational pillars don’t change. The expression is always changing. The structure evolves. There’s always something new, something better, but the Salukis get a great knowledge of the basics and the foundation in their courses, and then with projects like this, they really show what they are capable of.”
Davis advised her students to take their marketing plans along on job interviews as they are sure to impress prospective employers. The program already has some remarkable statistics, she said.
“Many years, we have a 100% placement rate with all of our graduates obtaining jobs or attending graduate school immediately after commencement,” Davis said. “And our alumni are all over the country in all segments of the tourism and hospitality industry.”
Comprehensive project
Each of the students in Davis’ class created a comprehensive, individualized marketing plan for the Varsity. They met with Robbins, toured the facility and learned of its history. He said the Varsity has successfully raised a half-million dollars in recent years, but the funds have been required for basic infrastructure and repairs for the facility, which opened its doors on June 27, 1940. He noted that insurance has tripled in the last couple of years and utilities have gone way up. The installation of new heating and air conditioning in the “Big Room” took about $250,000 while restroom and hospitality updates will cost over $300,000. Meanwhile “the community is eager to see us with a fresh façade, and that’s a million-dollar project,” Robbins said.
Along with researching the financial aspects, the students assessed the client’s needs, conducted an environmental and market analysis, created a marketing strategy and drafted detailed written plans.
“Not only do we get great hands-on experience doing projects like this, but we get out and work with businesses and give back to the community that we’ve been part of for the last four years,” said Regan Stoll, a Rockford, Illinois, native with a double major in HTEM and languages, cultures and international studies and specialization in German as well as a minor in marketing.
“I loved doing a site visit at the Varsity Center, learning about the different spaces and the direction they are trying to go and working my creativity muscles, coming up with solutions and ideas for marketing the Varsity. My marketing plan focused mainly on creating a stronger relationship between the Varsity and SIU.”
Working on the Varsity Center project was a new experience for Autumn Montague, a senior HTEM major from Indianapolis. She said it was a major adjustment as she isn’t accustomed to doing market research and kept wanting to jump into the planning and creative phase.
“This project and Dr. Davis really helped me learn patience and research skills,” Montague said. “Looking back at where I started with the project and where I finished, I have something to be very proud of. I can see where I have grown and developed, and having something you put so much work into from start to finish creates such a rewarding feeling. My marketing plan focuses on really developing and enhancing the Varsity’s social media presence and creating more engaging flyers. I also recommend connecting with SIU in different ways.
“This has been one of the best learning experiences I’ve had, hands-down.”
The students submitted their completed marketing plans to Davis, who reviewed and graded them and gave copies to Robbins. He said he anticipates implementing ideas from numerous student proposals.
“I’m happy to have fresh eyes come and offer new perspectives,” Robbins said. “I think I will find inspiration in all of their ideas. Ultimately, our goal is to have the Varsity operating at full capacity and reach out beyond our four corners to collaborate on arts and entertainment opportunities with the city, the university and beyond. We want to take the momentum we have and watch it grow and further cement the position the Varsity has as a hub of the local arts and entertainment scene.
“This is such an incredible program. We need to keep shining the light in it, now more than ever. It provides the kind of skills the students will need when they walk the aisle, flip that tassel and go out into the real world.”
Davis said connecting with business owners and other professionals gives students a different perspective on the things they’ve learned in class as well as access to “industry tips, tricks and stories.”
“You can only teach so much from a textbook,” Davis added. “We are guerilla marketers to a certain extent. We do tried and true things and new things. We look at all of the things that might be effective from tracking sales to press releases, from digital calendars to social media and more. We explore all effective avenues of marketing.”
Just the beginning
She said she hopes to expand the experiential learning lab environment into some of her other classes, including an events class where students can stage live or online entertainment productions. By their junior year, SIU HTEM students are getting practical experience, which is a huge part of the curriculum, she said.
This semester, Davis’ students have been working on marketing plans for SIU’s Student Center Event Services, and they have previously done projects for SIU’s Touch of Nature Outdoor Education Center and Cool Spoons.
In addition, SIU’s externship program sends students to a variety of hospitality and tourism positions each year, where they get hands-on experience in food service, event planning, hotel management, hospitality, tourism and other related industries.
Robbins also noted that he and Provost Sheryl A. Tucker have established the SIU x Varsity initiative to connect numerous SIU programs to the Varsity for use as a living lab and a portal to the community, and he looks forward to seeing and showcasing the impact Salukis from a variety of academic programs will have in the future.
Connections and experience draw students
SIU’s HTEM program will celebrate its 50th birthday this year, and students say the faculty, the personal connections and the unique experiences and opportunities set the program apart from others.
“Our faculty all have extensive background in the industry – well over 100 years of experience,” Davis said. “We’ve all served time ‘in the trenches’ of the hospitality, tourism and event management industry, and two of our faculty actually retired from the industry to come share their expertise with the students at SIU. We all maintain connections and relationships in the industry and serve with national and international boards and groups. These connections are also invaluable in helping our students secure internships and jobs.”
Montague was drawn to SIU’s HTEM program by its small class size that “make the experience much more personable. We get to build a stronger relationship with our professors, making for a more individualized experience. The professors remember everyone and are extremely welcoming and helpful. I really love that it can be a more one-on-one, personalized education.”
She fell in love with SIU while experiencing the “beautiful campus” during her junior year in high school, but she was unsure for a time about her career choice. After talking with a friend who is an event planner and meeting some of her colleagues, “it made me realize that was definitely what I wanted to do.”
Montague said she especially loved the Event Lab, a class she took in her sophomore year, which is an event planning team that handles real events for campus.
“It’s a huge confidence builder,” Montague said. “The hospitality industry is one where you absolutely need that experience-based learning, and my experiences will stay with me through the rest of my career.”
Davis said the Event Lab students are ready and willing to help with a variety of events during the academic year.
“This is a learning lab,” Davis said. “They are learning the process as they are doing the work, working with clients and helping them. They will have initial meetings to find out what the client needs are and then create plans to address those needs.”
Stoll chose HTEM after realizing her first choice of a major wasn’t going to work for her.
“I started reflecting on the things that make me happiest, and traveling was at the top of my list,” Stoll said. “I decided I wanted to create life-changing travel experiences for others, just as I’ve had in my own life.”
She “fell in love the moment I stepped onto SIU’s campus. I felt like I was part of something bigger.”
Through the externship class, she has worked alongside managers in several hotels in the St. Louis area, and through cooking classes, gotten a taste of the practical side of the hospitality industry to go with the business side.
Stoll has also completed an internship at the Convention and Visitors Bureau in her hometown of Rockford, gaining insights into marketing a city as a destination and strengthening her love for community involvement, as well as a “transformative” internship at the five-diamond hotel in Kohler, Wisconsin, where she discovered her passion for luxury hospitality, especially in the golf sector.
Montague has also served an internship with The Function@MB4 Productions, an events agency that included onsite event planning and management in Seattle and Denver. She said her HTEM major “can take you so many places. I have peers who are on track to work in restaurants, hotels, cruise ships and much more.”
More points of distinction
Davis said there are other things that set SIU’s HTEM program apart from the rest.
“SIU has 10 event management classes, vastly more than most other programs in the Midwest, giving our students additional knowledge and experience that others don’t have the opportunity to acquire,” she said.
The program also has a very active advisory board comprising members from around the region, St. Louis, Chicago and beyond, and its members speak on campus and connect students with internship, externship and employment opportunities.
SIU has also established transfer agreements with select community colleges so students can seamlessly complete their HTEM bachelor’s degree on campus or completely online. Both programs are taught by the same experienced faculty.
“Even post-COVID, this is one of the fastest growing industries in the country, in the world, and Saluki HTEM graduates are poised for success in the industry,” Davis said.