Reitman received his culinary degree in New Orleans, LA, and refined his skills as an apprentice at Arnaud's Restaurant, a 527 seat Mobil Four Star and DiRoNA awarded French Creole restaurant.

Reitman, a member of the American Culinary Federation, balances his Cajun flare with classical training in French cuisine and extensive experience in seafood, Italian, Mediterranean, Asian, as well as traditional American cooking.

Mary Slaughter, Sous Chef

Mary has worked with at Southeast with Chartwells for the past two years.  Her previous work experience includes Old Charlie's, Logan’s Road House and Holiday Inn.
 

At Old Charlie's, she worked as an In-House Trainer.  Her experience at Logan’s Road House was for three years as a Meat Cutter and Grill Cook.  Slaughter also served as a kitchen manager for Remington's  for seventeen years as a Kitchen Manager.

Slaughter completed high school in 1976 from Scott Central High School in Scott County, Missouri.  She also attended the Vo Tech in Sikeston for one year and took numerous cooking classes.

She is a mother of three children and also has two grandchildren.

When asked what she likes most about her job she replied, “I like working with different food concepts all at the same place.  And I also enjoy working with the young students as they progress into their chosen fields of study.”

Slaughter's favorite meal is turnip greens, fried pork chops, spaghetti, and corn muffins.  She states, “This meal always takes me back to growing up in the country.”

Lydia Dewees, Director of Retail Dining

Lydia Dewees has served as Director of Retail Dining since March 2006, prior to which, she was the Marketing Director for 4 years.  She has worked in the food service industry for more than 12 years. She graduated from Southeast Missouri State University in December 2001 with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with her major in Integrated Marketing Communications.  She is currently pursuing her MBA at Southeast in General Management; she has completed her coursework, just needs to finish her research project.  

Dewees joined Chartwells at Southeast Missouri State University in June 2002, as Marketing Director. At Chartwells, she enjoys the interaction and the ability to “make someone’s day” by giving them what they want. Everyday is a new adventure.

Dewees's main responsibilities are the day-to-day operations of the following retail locations on campus: Redhawks Market, Skylight Terrace, The Beanery Cafe, Scully Cafe and Kent Cafe.  Her main goal is to focus on customer service ensuring that we provide the community of Southeast with great “two Mile Service" as a part of the dining experience.

Lydia is originally from Tampa, Florida and moved to Cape in 1995.  She serves as President of the Cape Girardeau Jaycee Chapter and as a part of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce Young Professionals Committee. She is also heavily active in Jaycee committees. In her free time she enjoys golf, music, reading, and spending time with her tiny toy poodle-"Muffin" and cat "Miso".

Lydia’s food addiction is Funyuns and Pepsi. She also loves chicken fried rice and BLTs. Her favorite meal from Chartwells is Chef Em’s Kahlua pork because, “it’s AWESOME.” Her favorite meal to cook is homemade spaghetti, made with liberal use of red wine.

Bridget Lowe, Brands Manager

Bridget is originally from Cairo, Illinois and graduated from Cairo High School in 1981.  After graduation she joined the Army and served for three years. 

She joined Southeast Missouri State University in 1996 as a cashier, prior to Southeast transitioning to Chartwells.  She has been in management for the six years and has always liked working with people.  Previously, she was a cashier at Schnucks and worked as a breaker for Burlington Northern Railroad for two years as well.  She has over twelve years experience in customer services and seven years in food service. 

Currently, as the Brands Manager, her main duties include ensuring that the products we serve are meeting all standards with respect to Chick-fil-A and Mamma Leone's.  Additionally, she helps whenever needed for other associates and does whatever needs to be done.

“I like people.  Customer service is exciting to me, because you never do the same thing twice.”

As a single mother, she has three children, Ranada (22), Britney (13), and Travis (11).  She is also a grandmother to Rayanna (1) and Shamara (4).   Her time away from Chartwells is spent with family.  She also enjoys reading books, watching Lifetime, and going to church.

She has worked in food businesses all her life and has owned two businesses, which were BBQ and Cajun based.  She has also worked for Broussard's for five years as a manager.  In addition she worked for El Toreros and helped them establish their business and liquor license. 

Pamela is married to her husband Mike and has two sons, Jason and Aaron; two stepsons, Mike Jr. and Chris; and one stepdaughter, Jennifer.  She also has five grandchildren.  In her spare time she enjoys watching Baseball, especially the Cardinals, and she really enjoys her time as a member of the Chartwells Team.

When asked what she likes most about her job she replied, “I like working on campus because I get to meet all kinds of different people, and I like working with the public.” 

When choosing her favorite meal she chose baked potato and steak.

Mark is a proud Alumnus of Southeast Missouri State. He graduated in 2007, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Food Service Hospitality Management. Mark has been a supervisor for over a year, prior to which he worked for Chartwells as a student worker and full-time associate.

Mark is also a big sports fan and closely following the Detroit Tigers and Mizzou athletics. In his spare time, he collects model trains and coins.

“I mostly enjoy working with the people at Chartwells,” says Mark. “I enjoy chatting with the students and I am really enjoying my time in Cape Girardeau.”

Warren, who often refers to himself as Christopher Tugglezzz, has been a Southeast Student for 3 years and an employee of Chartwells for more than a year. Prior to his current position as supervisor, Warren began working the lunch shift at Scully Café. He was a regular honor roll student at CBC and University Senior High in St. Louis and consistently continues to achieve a high GPA as a Southeast student.

Warren has gained valuable food service and supervisory experience and enjoys learning about the nutritional side of food service, an interest that was sparked after taking FN235. He really enjoys working with Chartwells because it “evokes a lot of responsibility and requires a lot of confidence. Plus it’s a social network in which I meet new and exciting people every day.”