Charles “Butch” Robinson, Chairman of the Board for the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, returned to his alma mater last week as part of the “Meal with an Executive” held by the Rice University Sport Business Alliance, to discuss the benefits of the Rodeo to Houston.
Robinson, Lovett ’70, discussed with the students of the Sport Management program about how working from a smaller position can eventually lead you to a position of authority. For him, he began by buying two bulls, and eventually began influencing change by becoming a volunteer. From that, he just worked his way through committees to where he is today.
“The Rodeo is as large as the Super Bowl, the Final Four, and the largest Mardi Gras each year,” Robinson said. “It raises around $345,000,000 for the city of Houston in a couple weeks.”
As Robinson informed the thirteen students in attendance, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is a non-profit organization, with volunteers who pay to work there. It achieves this status by allowing the bulk of the profits go back to the Houston community through such methods as scholarships and grants.
This was the second of this years’ “Meal with an Executive” series held by the Rice University Sport Business Alliance. The Rice University Sport Business Alliance is a student-run organization whose mission is to create awareness and valuable opportunities for the students of the Sport Management Program at Rice University.