During the Spring semester of 1982, the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management (HRM) was asked to provide students to serve a formal dinner at the home of Mr. Nick Nicholas. This event was hosted by television personality Mr. Warner Roberts and Mr. James Papadakis, owner of James Coney Island, and was a thank you dinner for underwriters who had contributed to the March of Dimes during the year. Fifteen students donated their services to this worthy cause. In June of 1982, the students were again asked to serve – this time for a cocktail party welcoming the new HRM Dean, Dr. Gerald Lattin, at the home of Dr. Fannie Howard.
These two requests seemed to provide a potential opportunity for students to form an elite service organization, which would be available to the Houston community. All members would be full-time students in the HRM College, and would be available for hire as service personnel. The organization was formed with two primary goals in mind:
- To promote the Conrad N Hilton College and the University of Houston throughout the community.
- To provide a unique training experience for HRM students in aspect of service.
Dr. Clinton Rappole founded the organization and was the first faculty advisor while Dennis Caylor, Director of Food Services for the University Hilton, assisted with the development of a training program. Dr. Charles Bishop, President of the University of Houston Systems, was very supportive, and agreed to become the organization’s honorary advisor.
In order to become officially formed, a student General Manager needed to be selected. Mr. Allison Wen accepted the position, and Par Excellence was organized. Allison began at once to formalize by-laws, procedures, among other concerns, to select a uniform. A full tuxedo with tails, red cummerbund and red bowtie were agreed upon as the Par Excellence uniform. The Hilton College, under Dean Lattin, loaned Par Excellence the seed money needed to purchase necessary equipment and uniforms. Further donations were generously donated by ARA Services.
The original group consisted of 25 Par Excellence members, who where required to maintain certain standards: each student was required to enroll in at least 12 credit hours per semester, to maintain a 3.0 grade point average, and work a specified number of hours for Par Excellence. In return for membership, each active member received a scholarship toward tuition.
When a member is brought into Par Excellence they become a Petite. Our student training director and assistant director of training spend their first semester training the new petites on all the skills necessary to become a member of Par Ex. The culmination of their training is the Grad. Function. This is an event planned by the Petites in one of the ballrooms at the Hilton College. They choose the theme, menu, prepare, and serve for the event. At the end of the event they receive their tails and become full-fledged members.
On October 25, 2007 Par Excellence celebrated its 25th anniversary at Shades of Red. Shades of Red was a fund raising gala supporting the Dr. Clinton Rapole chair, the founding faculty advisor of Par Excellence. The event was a huge success. Par Excellence members planned, prepared for, and staffed the entire event. Faculty, alumni, and clients where invited and enjoyed good food and of course, bananas foster.
Photos from the event can be found here.
An article can be found here.
