PRWEB.COM NewswireNew Rochelle, NY (PRWEB) Monroe College, a national leader in urban and international education, today announced that students from its School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts won the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s (CTO) annual Students Colloquium Championship for the third consecutive year. The competition was held at the Hilton Times Square Hotel in Manhattan on June 3 as part of Caribbean Week in New York, sponsored by CTO and held during the first week of the month.

The CTO Student Colloquium challenges students from different Caribbean and U.S. institutions to present creative ideas for viable and profitable sustainable tourism projects or businesses in the Caribbean. As the two-time defending champions, and the only U.S. institution to compete this year, Monroe defeated four other participating schools, including the University of West Indies Centre for Hotel and Tourism Management in the Bahamas, the University of West Indies Mona Campus in Jamaica, as well as the University of the Virgin Islands in St. Thomas and the University of Technology in Jamaica.

Monroe’s team, comprising four students originally from the Caribbean island nations of Grenada, Antigua & Barbuda, Trinidad & Tobago and the Bahamas, won for their presentation entitled “Fédon’s Oasis Spa & Wellness Center,” named after Julien Fédon, the leader of a slave revolt in Grenada from 1795-1796. Their concept, intended to address health issues such as diabetes and hypertension using the natural spices and plants of Grenada, featured a spa with free holistic consultation services, a children’s wellness program that engages clients in the natural flora and fauna of Grenada, and a restaurant that utilizes the fresh fruits, vegetables and spices grown on the Grenadian soil. Excerpts from their presentation can be viewed here.

“Winning this championship for the third year in a row speaks volumes about the drive and determination of our students, as well as their innovative spirit, especially when going up against some of the most highly regarded Caribbean institutions,” said Professor St. Clair Thompson, Deputy Chair of Monroe’s School of Hospitality Management and the Culinary Arts. “This competition instills a great sense of pride in many of our Caribbean students by allowing them to reconnect with their roots and develop ideas that promote the cultural, social and economic vitality of their native region.”

The winning students from the college’s hospitality management program, including Karlene Williams, Alyssa Rolle, Nena Harvey and Eli Pemberton, will each receive a two-person, three-night stay at one of the all-inclusive Caribbean Sandals Beaches Resorts and round-trip airfare to Jamaica or Turks & Caicos.

The CTO is the Caribbean’s tourism development agency whose members include over 30 Dutch, English, French and Spanish-owned countries and territories, in addition to various private sector allied members. Their objective is to provide the necessary services and information for the development of sustainable tourism for the economic and social benefit of the Caribbean people. They are headquartered in Barbados and have offices in New York and London.

Monroe College has a campus on the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia and is actively involved in the community, most recently hosting a Caribbean Leadership Forum on crime reduction strategies, attended by the St. Lucia Prime Minister, senior police officials, criminal justice experts and other human services personnel from around the Caribbean. The school also sponsors the National School Science Fair and provides free, credit-bearing college courses to local high school students through the Jumpstart Program. The campus is home to approximately 300 students from St. Lucia and the surrounding Caribbean islands; another 200 students from the region attend the college’s NY campuses each year.

ABOUT MONROE COLLEGE

Founded in 1933, New York-based Monroe College is a nationally ranked private institution of higher learning with a real world learning approach that prioritizes hands-on academic experiences, practical and relevant academic programs, flexible learning schedules, best-in-class instructional technologies, and committed and engaged faculty to ensure that students are well positioned for career success upon graduation. Monroe College graduates more minority students than any other college in New York State.

Monroe College offers Certificate, Associate, Bachelor’s, and Master’s degree programs. It has campuses in the Bronx, New Rochelle, as well as in the Caribbean nation of St. Lucia, with programs offered through its Schools of Criminal Justice, Information Technology, Nursing, Education, Business & Accounting, Hospitality Management and Culinary Arts, and Allied Health Professions, as well as through its liberal arts and continuing education programs, and its King Graduate School. For more information and admissions criteria, please visit http://www.monroecollege.edu