Service is as much a part of the University of Delaware experience as cheering for the Fightin’ Blue Hens or savoring the nachos from Klondike Kate’s on Main Street — it’s woven into the community’s DNA.

So it follows that the University’s hospitality business management degree — a standard-setting program for service professionalism — would be rated among the best in the nation. 

In the latest issue of UD Magazine, hitting mailboxes this week, you’ll learn a little about this acclaimed program (don’t sleep on campus’ award-winning learning laboratory and fine dining restaurant, Vita Nova). And you’ll meet the alumni who are weathering pandemic-related storms, rising to the moment and rewriting the industry’s playbook. In some cases, they’re doing so in nontraditional roles — serving food and slinging drinks, yes, but also busting crime and saving lives (think combatting sex trafficking in Delaware hotels). 

“We’ve heard a lot in recent years about the turmoil facing the industry since the onset of the pandemic, but UD’s alumni are helping usher in a new and improved era,” said Diane Stopyra, associate editor of UD Magazine. “From the 2018 graduate teaching survival training workshops in the woods of Colorado to the Yelp employee helping us refine our online reviews, Blue Hens are reimagining hospitality.” 

Of course, service is a Blue Hen value across disciplines. Take the faculty members serving our planet through their research into clean hydrogen energy and our changing ocean chemistry. Or the alumna whose work with the Peace Corp has inspired her to serve English language learners around the globe. Anyone who worries about identity theft online will be served by a new generation of cybersecurity engineers coming up the ranks in one of UD’s newest degree programs.

Then there’s the art conservation and material culture students who recently lent their expertise to a German town still picking up the pieces after a devastating, 2021 flood in the Ahr Valley. “I do think our clinics were a bit of therapy for the people who came,” said Allison Kelley, one participating Blue Hen. “And maybe for us, too.” 

The trip has inspired talks on campus about ways UD can help in future disaster recovery missions. And while those details are still being hammered out, one thing is certain: From restaurants to research projects, locally and abroad, the Blue Hen commitment to service is stronger than ever.