Social dining at the refugee-run Magdas Hotel

Students, staff, and faculty of MODUL University Vienna enjoyed their first social dinner at the Magdas Hotel on March 15, 2016 in the company of refugees from Afghanistan and Syria. Co-organized by Space and Place, a political culture group active in Vienna, the Magdas Hotel Social Dinner invites guests to engage with the changing social structure of Vienna as they share a meal and a conversation with refugees in a pioneering business environment that is quickly being replicated around the world. The Magdas Hotel currently occupies a space that, in its past incarnations, has alternatively housed the elderly and the homeless, but has recently been transformed into a stylish and affordable hotel run exclusively by former refugees now at home in the city of Vienna.

As the leading private university in the fields of tourism and hospitality in Austria, the MU community welcomed the opportunity to learn about innovation at the Magdas Hotel and to widen its diverse international community of students and friends. “The hotel is full of stories, new ideas, and optimism,” says Space and Place co-founder and event organizer, Eugene Quinn. Along with its message of positivity and hope, the Magdas Hotel calls attention to Vienna as a city that is “open, welcoming, and engaged with the world,” placing a premium on the values of diversity, respect, and integrity that also define the MU community.

Gathering around the table to enjoy Syrian mezze and warm conversation, the MU community discovered a whole new Vienna. The evening was particularly eye-opening for Valerie Urdich, a current BBA student and Social and Charity Officer for the ÖH, who dreams of opening her own social hotel with the goal of supporting and employing women formerly involved in prostitution. “I realized that refugees are humans just trying to live a life,” said Urdich who exchanged contact information and became Facebook friends with a young refugee from Afghanistan before the night was through. “I didn’t understand the Magdas concept completely,” Urdich continued, “but it turns out that this is exactly why I study hotel management.”

It is our goal at MU to create ambassadors of responsible living who will lead with a strong sense of social responsibility and cultural sensitivity in an increasingly diversified world. Taking part in the Magdas Hotel Social Dinner offered students as well as staff and faculty at MU a new and exciting opportunity to put our core values into practice and facilitate social change. We look forward to taking part in this important cultural exchange in the future and welcoming a generation of new Viennese to the MU table!

Learn more about the exciting work of Space and Place in Vienna.

 Sign up for the next Magdas Hotel Social Dinner.