Penn State's Minority MBA Association Hosts Diversity Appreciation Weekend
The recent Diversity Appreciation Weekend 2003, which was sponsored by Penn State’s Minority MBA Association, featured a pledge of funds for diversity programs from Minority MBA Association members of the classes of 1993 and 2003, as well as the presentation of diversity awards for staff, alumni, and corporate partners.
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA -- The recent Diversity Appreciation Weekend 2003, which was sponsored by Penn State’s Minority MBA Association, featured a pledge of funds for diversity programs from Minority MBA Association members of the classes of 1993 and 2003, as well as the presentation of diversity awards for staff, alumni, and corporate partners.
Held in conjunction with the Smeal College MBA Visitation Weekend, the April 3-6 event—with second-year MBA student Cristal Brun as chairperson—also featured executive networking opportunities with Boeing and the Penn State Alumni Board and a keynote speech from Milford Thomas (M.B.A. 1993), Partner with Syncom Management Co. Additionally, a minority alumni panel featuring Troy Cromwell (M.B.A. 1990), XO Communications; Darrell Leonard (M.B.A. 1999), Novartis; Eduardo Mendez (M.B.A. 1998), Nokia; Marci Moffett (M.B.A. 1999), Ford; and Patty Paz (M.B.A. 2002), IBM, provided current and prospective students with unique minority perspectives from the corporate world and views on their individual Penn State experiences for prospective MBA students.
The Minority MBA Association class of 1993, which held its reunion during Diversity Appreciation Weekend, pledged $9,000 to help support the Minority MBA Scholarship Fund.
“I pray that this reunion will reestablish an interest and dedication to ‘give back’ to the Minority MBA Association,” said Khea Johnson (M.B.A. 1993), Senior Professional Representative at Merck, who spearheaded the reunion initiative with Lanita Wiltshire (M.B.A. 1993). “We are all very thankful to Penn State, Smeal College, and Vernis Welmon for the opportunities made available to us once we earned our M.B.A.’s.”
Welmon, Assistant to the Dean for Diversity Enhancement and International Programs at Smeal, is also the namesake of a minority endowment within the MBA Program. During Diversity Appreciation Weekend, the graduating members of the Minority MBA Association pledged $13,500 to the “Vernis Welmon Endowment for MBA Minority Affairs and International Programs.” The endowment was established in 1999 through a $100,000 pledge by Smeal alumnus Harvey Kimmel (B.S. 1964) and his wife, Virginia. Since that time, members of the Minority MBA Association in Smeal have pledged portions of their signing bonuses and starting salaries to support the endowment.
“By Contributing to the endowment, we can give back some of what was given,” Brun said. “We were given scholarships to come here and it’s our way to say ‘thank you’ and to encourage ongoing diversity initiatives within the Program.”
During the closing banquet, awards were also presented to all participating alumni; Stacee Meyer, Associate Director for MBA Marketing, as the Staff Diversity Award recipient; and representatives from Boeing (Verett Mims) and PNC (Davie Huddleson) as Corporate Diversity Partners.
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