Oct 4
2011
Alumni and Homecoming go together like, well, bacon and eggs. And we had all of that last Saturday morning at the Dean’s breakfast. I suppose that makes it sound like I was in a chef’s hat, wielding a frying pan. My wife will tell you that I can whip up some mean scrambled eggs, and she will let me near the stove to make them. Otherwise, not so much. But I digress.
I wasn’t cooking this breakfast; instead, I was thoroughly enjoying talking with alumni, current students, and parents of both. See below for a photo of Stewart Taylor, class of 1959! The energy in the room was fueled by more than the coffee and orange juice – it is a unique energy possessed by USD alumni, and if it could be harnessed, we would not need further alternative energy in this country. I see it over and over when I travel and get together with alumni: former students who are smart, interesting people doing fascinating work AND who are reaching out to current students and recent graduates to help them with job searches and other forms of mentoring. This is so exciting that I didn’t even need my morning coffee.
The Brigida Family
The SBA Alumni Council helps keep this network strong and connected, and we had several members of the Council with us on Saturday. Burt Brigida (BBA, ‘85), the current Chair, was there with his family, and David Salisbury (BBA, ’95), the Vice-Chair was there as well. It was great to see Carlos Persichetti (MBA, ‘96), a member of the Council and a faithful supporter of the school in a number of ways for many years, and Josephine Bennett (BBA, ‘81), a past president of the USD Alumni Board.
Kellen Gill (BBA, ’08) demonstrated the excellent presentation skills he gained in his SBA courses in his funny, warm and welcoming introduction of me for my presentation. Based on a branding exercise we have been doing at the SBA, I asked for words that people in the group would use to describe the business school. Some of their responses: Innovative. On-the-move. Forward looking. The great thing about those words coming from this group is that for the words to be true about the school depends partly upon an involved and committed alumni base.
The questions from the group also showed their interest in and connection to the school. I responded to questions about rankings, curriculum, and job placement statistics, among others. Look for future posts about these topics. This was a great discussion – I’d like to keep it going. If you have questions you’d like to see me talk about here, write a comment to let me know. In the meantime, I’ll be seeking an entrepreneur to find a way to hook up an electric car to the USD alumni-energy generator.
With Stewart Taylor, ’59
Guests at the Dean’s breakfast
