Page 3 - Florida Sentinel 4-2-21

Feature
Young Black Man Promoted To Head USF’s Marketing Department
BY MONIQUE STAMPS Sentinel Staff Writer
Demontre (Tre) Smith is mak- ing moves at the University of South Florida. Recently, he was promoted to the position of Director of Marketing in the University Communications and Marketing office.
He is responsible for developing and implementing long-term market- ing and vision to enhance USF’s rep- utation. He is also responsible for creating and implementing market- ing integration initiatives and brand- ing the strategic and creative design of official university marketing and communications.
Smith is a graduate of Hampton University and Virginia Common- wealth University (VCU) for his mas-
DEMONTRE (TRE) SMITH
... USF’s Chief Marketing Officer
ter’s degree in sports leadership. He primarily worked in sports before joining the USF staff.
Smith states that the job is going well. However, the transition into his new position was tough with COVID and the resignation of the Chief Mar- keting Officer. He was left to handle the office with a small team and hav- ing to hire more team members dur- ing COVID.
His biggest goal for USF is to ramp up visibility globally and be a top uni- versity with the Association of Amer- ican Universities (AAU) certification.
He stresses the importance of highlighting the great things that USF is doing.
In his spare time, he is heavily into fitness and invests in the stock mar- ket. His investments have paid off, as he along with some buddies were able to go into business last year.
The Tiny Village Cartagena is an
energy-efficient boutique hotel that he bought with a group of three other HBCU graduates. They bought the land and built the hotel from the ground up. They will be opening in the fall.
Smith’s motto is: “Do what your heart tells you to do. I am a first-gen- eration high school graduate and first-generation college graduate. For me, I followed my heart to get where I am today.”
Smith advocates that people should be their authentic self.
As a Black man, he feels ‘that being visible and genuinely himself is something all Black people should have the ability to do.’
He and his long-time girlfriend welcomed their first child last July.
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