When 35 University of Dayton students packed their bags for a five-week summer education abroad program in Barcelona, Spain, they expected rich cultural experiences and challenging coursework. They received both, plus an unforgettable lesson in what truly sets the University of Dayton community apart.
“By throwing yourself into a situation where a lot of your preconceived notions about how business is done internationally are challenged, you begin to understand how important culture is in influencing business strategy and why successful businesses must be willing to adapt their approach to fit the people and cultures they work with,” said Ryan Williams (‘27) finance major.
The program, "Business and Sports in Spain," combined rigorous academics, the option of completing two to three courses (FIN 301: Introduction to Financial Management, MKT 301: Principles of Marketing and HSS 354: Global Sport, Culture and Business) with real-world industry exposure. MKT 301, taught by Scott Friend, School of Business Administration professor and R. Lucille and Norman M. Schaefer Chair in Marketing, delivered hands-on experience through site visits, high-level guest speakers, and a project centered around a world-class sporting event: the Formula1 Barcelona Grand Prix.
Rigorous Academics Meets Real-World Strategy
For the marketing project, students were tasked with building comprehensive marketing plans for new products or services tied to the F1 Grand Prix at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. To ground their work in real-world application, the Corporate Manager for the track served as a guest speaker, providing insider perspective on the massive logistical and strategic efforts required for global events.
Divided into interdisciplinary teams combining marketing, finance, operations, and sports management majors, students worked daily after class to develop viable business models.
"Every single student was at every single class period—100% attendance—and then they met as a team afterward," Friend said. "Just that consistent chipping away resulted in some really great projects."
The resulting plans reflected both high-level creativity and strategic depth. Some of the examples include:
- B2B Fan Analytics: One group designed a technology service using data tracking to monitor fan movement across track grounds, enabling vendors and organizers to minimize wait times and optimize layout efficiency.
- Luxury Sport Tourism: Another team capitalized on the European sports calendar by developing multi-week vacation packages that linked the Monaco Grand Prix to the Barcelona Grand Prix via luxury cruise and high-speed rail travel.
"In a regular semester, students might be working with teams virtually or balancing different schedules," Friend noted. "Here, you had finance majors pairing their analytical side with creative marketing majors, mimicking how actual business organizations function."
The UD Difference: Connection and Kindness
While the academic outcomes were impressive, Friend noted that the most impactful aspect of the five-week journey was the length and depth of relationships built outside the classroom.
“I have come to learn the term ‘slow travel,’” said Friend. “Being in a foreign country for five weeks is so unique in itself. You are obviously not a resident of that country, but you also don’t feel like a tourist.” The same could go for the relationships between students and faculty members. Friend and his fellow faculty members participated in every site visit, cultural workshop, and overnight trip. Friend also brought his family along for the experience.
It was here that UD’s distinct culture of community became most evident. Throughout the program, students went out of their way to include Friend and his family in non-academic activities, inviting them to join group dinners and explore local neighborhood tapas spots.
"I’ve always been impressed with our students intellectually, but from a kindness perspective, they were just amazing," Friend said. "They were so welcoming to us and my family, inviting us out to things they were doing. Getting to know students on a much deeper level was personally and professionally one of the most rewarding experiences of my career."
It isn’t just the faculty that feels that way. “Throughout my time at UD, one of the most rewarding experiences I have had is developing close relationships with faculty in the classroom. When you go abroad with UD faculty, you're able to have that experience, but at a whole other level,” said Williams. “Instead of only seeing and learning from your professors in a classroom setting, you are given the opportunity to learn alongside them through your site visits and day trips. This makes the student-faculty relationship that much stronger, which in turn makes learning from them that much more valuable.”
Building Leaders for the Global Stage
From pre-departure preparation led by the University of Dayton’s Global Intercultural and Affairs Center to local support systems on the ground in Spain, the program provided a structured environment for students, many traveling abroad for the first time, to step outside their comfort zones safely and confidently.
For Friend, the trip was a powerful reminder of why educators choose this path: to mentor, inspire, and build lasting connections with the next generation of business leaders.
"You can do anything you want in the world, and the people around you make that experience better or worse," Friend reflected. "In this case, the students added everything to it. They truly made the experience."
