Boston University School of Hospitality Administration presents Dean’s Distinguished Speakers Series for Spring 2024: Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage
Balancing the Rising Cost of Dining & Exploring Solutions for Employees, Employers, and Consumers
February 7, 2024, at 4 PM to 5:30 PM
Boston, MA (January 10, 2024) – Boston University School of Hospitality Administration (BU SHA) is proud to present the Dean’s Distinguished Speakers Series. One of the best professional speaker series anywhere on topics facing today’s fast-changing hospitality industry, these talks (free and open to the public) provide the rare opportunity to hear and engage with top-level experts, changemakers, and entrepreneurs across the industry spectrum.
The Dean’s Distinguished Speakers Series for Spring 2024 features Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage, and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. One Fair Wage organizes service workers, employers, and consumers to advance local, state, and federal policy to require the minimum wage (with tips on top for all workers) and end subminimum wages for millions of workers.
- Date: Wednesday, February 7, 2024
- Time: 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM, followed by a reception from 5:30 PM – 6:30 PM
- Location: Computing & Data Sciences Building at Boston University
665 Commonwealth Avenue, 17th Floor, Boston
Registration & Information:
https://www.bu.edu/hospitality/events/conferences/deans-distinguished-speakers-series
Free and open to the BU community and the public. Advance registration is required.
BU SHA presents this forum with Saru Jayaraman of One Fair Wage to discuss one of the most paramount issues impacting the hospitality industry today and into the future: recruitment and retention of the hospitality workforce. Specifically, the talk will focus on balancing workers’ demands for increased compensation with managing rising costs that impact the bottom line. This discussion will address various viewpoints on ending vs. maintaining the subminimum wage (with tips on top in both scenarios).
“As an academic institution, it is our role to bring complex issues to the table and facilitate an informed and constructive dialogue that considers the concerns of all stakeholders,” said Arun Upneja, Ph.D., Dean of Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration. “This forum provides an opportunity to explore and better understand the diverse perspectives on these important issues. The aim is to find common ground and workable solutions.”
‘Especially given the post-pandemic service sector staffing crisis and rising cost of living, it is both critical and timely to be considering wages and working conditions for the 14 million workers in the US restaurant industry,” commented Saru Jayaraman, President of One Fair Wage, and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. “These issues are critical to the future of the hospitality sector and Americans’ willingness to work in this sector, and essential for future leaders of the industry to consider if they want to be able to recruit and retain employees in the sector.”
All those passionate about restaurants (employees, employers, and consumers) are encouraged to attend the talk and to join in a Q&A and reception following the talk.
For more information about the Boston University School of Hospitality Administration Dean’s Distinguished Speakers Series, visit the BU SHA website.
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About Saru Jayaraman:
Saru Jayaraman is the President of One Fair Wage and Director of the Food Labor Research Center at University of California, Berkeley. After 9/11, together with displaced World Trade Center workers, she co-founded the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC), which grew into a national movement of restaurant workers, employers, and consumers. She then launched One Fair Wage as a national campaign to end all subminimum wages in the United States. Saru is a graduate of Yale Law School and the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. She was listed in CNN’s “Top 10 Visionary Women” and recognized as a Champion of Change by the White House in 2014, a James Beard Foundation Leadership Award in 2015, and the SF Chronicle ‘Visionary of the Year’ in 2019. Saru is also the author of four books including One Fair Wage: Ending All Subminimum Pay in America (The New Press, November 2021). Additional publications include Behind the Kitchen Door (Cornell University Press, 2013), Forked: A New Standard for American Dining (Oxford University Press, 2016), and Bite Back: People Taking on Corporate Food and Winning, (UC Press, 2020). She has appeared on MSNBC, HBO, PBS, CBS, and CNN. She attended the Golden Globes in January 2018 with Amy Poehler as part of the Time’s Up action to address sexual harassment.
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About Boston University School of Hospitality Administration: Established in 1981 and celebrating over 40 years of Innovating the Business of Hospitality, Boston University’s School of Hospitality Administration (SHA) offers students a combination of rigorous academics, liberal arts curriculum, and international experiences for the pursuit of success in lodging, restaurants, food service, and other avenues of the hospitality industry. SHA has a unique relationship with the city of Boston, where the area’s hotels and restaurants provide students with numerous opportunities for internships to satisfy work experience requirements for their degrees. To learn more about the internationally recognized graduate programs, visit Graduate Programs | School of Hospitality Administration. For more information about the SHA undergraduate program, visit Boston University School of Hospitality Administration Undergraduate Program | School of Hospitality Administration.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Mara Littman, Director of Corporate and Public Relations
Email: mlittman@bu.edu
Office: 617-353-4496
Photographs, interviews, and other press materials are available upon request.