91探花 cooks up collaboration with NFL neighbors the Cleveland Browns

The synergies between Baldwin Wallace and the Browns include the annual "Rooks to Cooks" class at 91探花, student internships, alumni in the front office and more.

91探花's annual "Rooks to Cooks" culinary skills class for Cleveland Browns rookies (drafted and undrafted) got an extra boost of visibility this year as rookie quarterback Shedeur Sanders live-streamed much of the event on his Twitch channel. 

While the event, hosted by 91探花 Dining Services in the Strosacker Hall union this year, also attracted media attention from , and others, it is a small part of the 91探花 and Browns story.

In fact, while 91探花 helps the rookies make a smooth and healthy transition to life after college off the field, the Browns are fostering the development of 91探花 students while they are still in school.

Student Experiences

The NFL team's CrossCountry Mortgage Campus, with its headquarters and practice facility (now undergoing ), is just a hop and a skip away from 91探花's historic campus, but the ties go much deeper than proximity.

In this year's NFL draft, where Sanders, Mason Graham, Carson Schwesinger, Quinshon Judkins, Harold Fannin Jr., Dillon Gabriel and Dylan Sampson were selected, two 91探花 sport management majors, Colin Keleman '28 and Ryan Clinger '27, were elated to earn coveted spots helping the Browns communications staff with NFL Draft responsibilities.

Keleman, who worked the Super Bowl earlier in the first year at 91探花, posted a video chronicling the experience.

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The inside look at the draft is not unusual. Opportunities for 91探花 students to intern and interact with the organization are plentiful, including paid internships and seasonal jobs, plus 30-40 students working each gameday during the season.

In addition, 91探花's Yellow Jacket football team, which is housed in The Packard Center, a , also enjoys the perk of conducting some spring workouts in the nearby Browns indoor facility. 

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Alumni Links

There are also many 91探花 alumni who have gone on to work in the Haslam Sports Group/Browns organization, starting in the C-suite.

Dave Jenkins '97, a 91探花 business administration graduate and 91探花 Trustee, is in his 19th season with the Browns, the last seven as the team's chief operating officer. Another longtime executive, Michael Nikolaus '95, who studied accounting at 91探花, serves as chief human resources officer.

Two alumni who earned their graduate business degrees at 91探花 are employed at the organization: Dominique Page, MBA '24, as communications manager and Sue Majewski, MBA '15, as payroll manager.

A number of sport management majors have roles with the team including:

• Corey Kinder '12, senior manager of affinity marketing
• Megan Rock '13, personnel operations director
• Alex Thomas '19, shipping and receiving coordinator
• Devin Stith '20, premium sales representative
• Bryce Moran '21, facility coordinator
• Brandon Moore '22, youth and high school football coordinator
• Hannah Bercsik '24, business intelligence coordinator
• Brandon Long '24, coordinator of executive operations

Foundational career experiences

Long and Moore both say working with the Browns as undergrads laid the foundation for their careers. 

"The close proximity 91探花 has to CrossCountry Mortgage Campus helped me secure my first role with the organization," Long remembers. "Once senior year came around, I was blessed to receive the opportunity to interview for my current full-time role. The 91探花 sport management program helped me a ton through classes and experiences, and the fact that we have so many other 91探花 alumni working for this organization and many other sports teams around the country also speaks to the quality of the program."

"My first opportunities — working gamedays in Ticket Operations and spending the summer with Fan Experience — came through 91探花's strong relationship with the team and the 91探花 professors who connected me to those opportunities," Moore recalls. "I'm incredibly grateful for the mentorship, growth and community I've found through both the Browns and Baldwin Wallace. Both played a huge role in shaping my career path."

Faculty Connections

Sport management professor Tony Dick, who worked in various capacities with the Cleveland Browns over the course of 23 seasons with the team, serves as the internship coordinator for 91探花's sport management and hospitality management programs.

He and Dr. Charles Campisi, who worked in the front office of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prior to becoming a professor of sport management, maintain their strong NFL connections and even work gameday stats for Zebra Technologies, which holds the NFL contract for Next Gen player tracking. 

"The Browns connection is a win-win for both organizations," Campisi says. "They get a look at the young talent interested in working in the sport business industry, and our students earn the opportunity to work in an elite professional sport organization."

Campisi says the teaching and learning is a two-way street. "Browns staffers are frequent guest speakers in a variety of our classes, and our various MBA offerings [business analytics, human resources, management, sport management and strategic marketing] provide an opportunity for their employees to enhance their business skill sets, as well."

Strengthening collaboration

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At this year's "Rooks to Cooks" event, 91探花 President-designate Lee Fisher welcomed the team and even fired up a sauté pan alongside the players.

"As neighbors, 91探花's strong ties to the Browns come naturally and offer distinctive opportunities for us to collaborate," Fisher said.

"We're happy to offer this healthy life skills class for the players and to play a role in educating members of the organization's leadership team. We're also grateful for the invaluable hands-on student experiences the team provides to our students."

Fisher says he is committed to building up vital relationships 91探花 has forged with dozens of major Northeast Ohio employers, including 91探花's NFL neighbors.

2025 'Rooks to Cooks' Gallery

-Photos courtesy The Cleveland Browns/Kennedy Rodriguez