Cayleigh Pennington has had her sights set on hospitality since before she came to Chambers.
From Harrison County, Pennington was an active student during high school. She was part of several organizations and clubs, and with that came the responsibility of planning multiple events like prom, homecoming, and fundraisers. Through those experiences, she came to focus her sights on the hospitality industry.
“I realized I loved working with a team of people,” Pennington said. “I love having an outcome be a memorable experience that brings a community together. From there I realized hospitality and event planning was the way to go.”
Growing up nearby and earning scholarships that amounted to a full-ride, Pennington said she easily decided WVU was the school for her. She then started her journey at Chambers as a Hospitality and Tourism Management major. She stuck with that plan all the way through, having not changed her major once.
Reflecting on what helped her the most during her time at Chambers, Pennington said that as a hospitality student, the experiential learning opportunities she received were incredibly useful.
“As an event planner, yes you can learn a lot in class, but the only way to really learn about it is through hands-on experience in my opinion.”
One of those experiential learning opportunities came during Pennington’s Event Planning Practicum. Taught by Professor Frank DeMarco, the class tasks students with planning events, including all the fine details that come with that process.
For Pennington, one of those events saw her help plan a culinary competition at Nemacolin, a luxury resort. That competition, held in April, brought in culinary students from WVU Tech and Pierpont Community and Technical College. The culinary students raced against the clock to make meals that would be judged, while the hospitality students maintained the operational flow.
Pennington’s role during the event was as a hostess. She said that in addition to helping maintain the flow, she also helped coordinate the AV, floor plan, and what food would be served
“It really opened my eyes to all the different aspects that go into an event.”
In addition to the hands-on experience during the competition, the class also taught Pennington about other tasks that go into planning events.
“We were able to meet with clients, learn how to communicate with vendors, send our RSVPs, do post surveys, see what guests liked or didn’t like. I think that class was especially beneficial to where I’m heading.”
As for where she’s heading, Pennington is excited to head back to Nemacolin to start a post-grad event concierge internship. During that internship, she hopes to improve her skills further.
“I feel like I see myself in a leadership role, and to do that properly I need to strengthen my skills, and that means working with a large team. This will be my first opportunity working with such a luxury resort. I want to learn how I can make these special moments for guests. Make it a memorable experience, something they talk about to others and bring more people in.”
Looking back on her academic journey, Pennington said she’s thankful for all the help Chambers has provided her. In particular, she said the college is great at helping students figure out their career plans.
“I feel like Chambers is very supportive towards whatever route you want to go. I know whenever people first come to WVU it can be very intimidating, because they see such high enrollment and large class sizes, but they’re very hands-on. Each of my professors know what area and focus of hospitality I want to go to. They know my post-grad, where I’m going, and where I want to end up.”
With a strong academic foundation and an exciting opportunity in the future, Pennington is ready to make her mark in the hospitality industry.
-WVU-
JC 05/13/26
MEDIA CONTACT:
Jacob Comer
Senior Communications Specialist
John Chambers College of Business and Economics
jrcomer@mail.wvu.edu
