‘Hospitalitarian’ among first Purdue HHS undergrads in Indy

Harmony Oliver is one of the first Purdue University College of Health and Human Sciences undergraduates in Indianapolis. The Hospitality and Tourism Management major wanted to stay closer to her family home and baby sister, Devyn, 1.(Photos by Tim Brouk)

Written by: Tim Brouk, tbrouk@purdue.edu

For Harmony Oliver, being one of the first Purdue University College of Health and Human Sciences undergraduates in Indianapolis means being close to home.

The Indianapolis native chose the Purdue White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management (HTM) in part because of the program’s high rankings, opportunities to travel and training to become a future experience engineer.

But there was another reason she chose Purdue in Indianapolis: family, especially her 1-year-old baby sister, Devyn.

“I was kind of scared that she would forget me, even though that’s kind of a silly fear,” Oliver said with a laugh. “But I wanted to study and also get the college experience by living in the dorm. So that’s why I’m not at home, even though I’m so close.”

Oliver’s career goals include hotel management.

Oliver and her 10 classmates are the first College of Health and Human Sciences undergraduates at Purdue in Indianapolis. The hospitality and tourism management major in Indianapolis was launched in August along with Department of Health and Kinesiology graduate programs in athletic training and sport management.

The Indianapolis native also received a full-ride Hospitalitarian Scholar scholarship, which is part of a large gift made recently by the Dean and Barbara White Family Foundation aimed at expanding Purdue HTM’s reach into Indianapolis.

Strong, Early Start

Oliver didn’t wait until mid-August to get her Boilermaker career started. She participated in the Early Start and Math Momentum summer programs in Indianapolis, which allowed her to spend July getting acclimated to her class buildings, bonding with her roommate in North Hall and making friends with other new Purdue students. Math Momentum allowed her to fulfill all her math credits in a small class of 12 students where one-on-one work helped her conquer college algebra.

Half of her first fall semester courses are related to her major — HTM 17300 (Tourism Systems) and HTM 18000 (Hospitality Operations). The classes consist of all HTM students. Discussions and work on case studies and scenarios that hotel and restaurant managers often experience are common. Oliver said she is taking it all in.

“There are so many different aspects in tourism,” she added. “Hospitality is just a big umbrella with so many different industries. But within the tourism sector, like the travel industry, there’s just so much you can learn about it, whether it’s economics, whether it’s environmental, whether it’s culture aspects — there’s just so many different things you can learn about it. And I find it so fascinating.”

Future hotelier

Oliver has already worked in the restaurant industry part-time for more than two years. She took culinary arts at Ben Davis High School, but she sees hotel management — and the potentially exotic and faraway locales — in her future.

“My end goal is traveling,” Oliver said. “I like to be immersed in different cultures and experience different things. I like to see the world from different perspectives that other people see it from.”

While staying close to family was the top reason that she chose to study hospitality and tourism management in Indianapolis, Oliver has experienced a strong sense of pride along with the excitement of her first semester as a Purdue student. She and her cohort autographed a metal I-beam that has been installed into the $187 million Academic Success Building, the towering 15-story future headquarters of Purdue in Indianapolis set to open in time for fall 2027. Her name will be part of Purdue’s success forever.

“I’m very excited to see what it all has to offer,” Oliver said. “I’m also just so excited to see how in the future, how this program is going to grow from us being the first class.”

An HHS pioneer

With students like Oliver, Amanda Cecil, HHS assistant dean for Indianapolis programs and HTM clinical professor, is thrilled with HTM’s Indianapolis beginning.

“I can confidently say that we are building something special together on this campus. We will learn a lot this year and continue to focus on providing HTM students a collegiate experience they will never forget,” she said. “These students are true HTM experience engineers. The future is bright here in Indianapolis.”

Cecil sees Oliver and her classmates as trailblazers for the many Purdue HTM students who will follow them in Indianapolis.

“Harmony is not only in the program; she is helping us design the ultimate student experience in Indy,” she said. “My sincere hope is Harmony feels proud and special to be a part of the first HTM cohort in Indianapolis. These students are pioneers in a sense and understand they are empowered to help us build the program and influence the future.”