tribal gaming at sdsu
If you are looking for a new experience, contact Professor Katherine Spilde about visiting an American Indian tribal government and casino.
Introduction
Professor Katherine Spilde is the tribal gaming professor at San Diego State University. She grew up on an Indian Reservation as a child which got her interested in the topic of tribal gaming. She has worked in many places across the country including for the President of the United States in Washington, D.C. Travis Wolfe is a recent graduate from the trial gaming major at San Diego State and enjoys working to build up smaller tribal casinos. Bill Johnson is a current senior at San Diego State and is graduating with a degree in tribal casino operations management. Once graduated, he plans to work for casino operations at MGM in Las Vegas. Summary San Diego State University is the only university in the nation with a 4 year Tribal Casino Operations Management degree. Through this program, you can visit tribes, casinos, and even go to Las Vegas. The skills you learn through this program can transfer to other regions and industries as well. Gaming applies to meetings and events, restaurants, and hotels. Professor Spilde spoke a lot about her experience with the Indian tribes. She explained that tribes are actually their own governments and that there are 566 American Indian tribal governments in the United States. 287 out of the 566 have casino operations. There are 17 tribal governments in San Diego County alone. The tribal gaming industry is a historic and cultural movement and is constantly evolving. She also told us that 86% of American adults have gambled at some point in their lives, 68% have gambled in the past year, and 84% see gambling as acceptable and a personal choice. |
Reflection
I have never been to an American Indian tribal casino because it is just not something that has ever interested me. However, after hearing about how passionate Professor Spilde, Bill, and Travis are about the industry, I kind of want to go to one in San Diego just to see what it is like and how different it is from a casino in Las Vegas. I do however think that it is very interesting how different gambling is in tribal casinos rather than Las Vegas. For example, you can gamble at 18 in a tribal casino rather than 21, and most of the rules for the card games are different, yet they are called the same thing. Although they persuaded me to want to go visit an American Indian tribal casino, I do not think that they convinced me to join the Tribal Casino Operations Management program at SDSU. It is nothing against what they do, I just do not have an interest in that field. However, I do want to take Professor Spilde’s class where she teaches you to card count and about Las Vegas casinos because I think that it would be really awesome to know that kind of stuff. Professor Spilde’s passion for the industry definitely opened my eyes to new possibilities of visiting tribal casinos. I do not think that this is a potential career direction for me though. I think that if I take on of her classes, Professor Spilde could be a possible resource for me. I do admire Bill, Travis, and Professor Spilde’s passion for what they do. Professor Spilde mentioned that she has dedicated her life to helping strengthen American Indian tribal governments which is very admirable. I think that all three of them are great examples for us students because of their passion and dedication for what they do. I think that even though we might not have been interested in their topic of discussion, we could learn from them because they are stand so firmly behind what they do. |