Recent Grad Attends MBA Alumni Weekend
With the ink still wet on my MBA, attending the 2019 MBA Alumni weekend was a humbling introduction to the William & Mary alumni community. More than 350 alumni and their guests visited Alan B. Miller Hall for a jam-packed three-day weekend, demonstrating a deep level of engagement with a place they once called home.
The MBA Alumni Weekend last month began with five full-time MBA classes (’79, ’84, ’89, ’94, and ’99) celebrating reunions. These classes also raised funds for scholarships for future students. Through their efforts, more than $1 million was contributed to help current and future students of the Mason School ease the cost of attendance.
The second day began with class sessions led by members of the Mason School’s world class faculty, designed to get alumni back to the classroom and discuss topics challenging today’s business leaders. Among the standing-room only sessions were those taught by retiring faculty, Deborah Hewitt ’75 (Economics), Bill Stewart (Data Analysis), and Bill Stauffer J.D ’74 (Business Law). Returning to the classroom, we were able to reconnect with these beloved professors and the many other faculty who joined throughout the weekend.
The capstone of the weekend was the Green and Gold Celebration filled with a cocktail hour, dinner under a grand tent in the courtyard, and a glorious dessert buffet. After dinner, Dean Larry Pulley spoke to attendees, applauding the involvement in the weekend and reminding us of our commitment to live lives of principled achievement. He celebrated the new MBA Scholarships, noting too that an anonymous donor pledged to match funds raised for MBA scholarships, in turn doubling their impact to the school. The Quittmeyer Society, honoring our first Dean, Charles Quittmeyer, inducted 19 new members to their ranks – recognizing those who graduated 40 or more years ago. The first MBA Class of 1967 commissioned a portrait of Dean Quittmeyer that was available for viewing in the Dean’s Conference Room. And finally, Thaddeus Rubel Shelly III, MBA ’84 and father of three W&M graduates (two just this year!) was given the Alumni Volunteer Award in recognition of his leadership service to the W&M Business School Foundation and more than 35 years of generous financial support including the Shelly Family MBA Scholarship Endowment.
Sunday rounded out the weekend with a golf tournament at Kiskiack Golf Club, hosted by owner Carl Zangardi, MBA ’83.
This weekend inspired me to continue my engagement with the school as a new alumna. A recent article in Poets & Quants remarked, “It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes a Tribe to inspire catalysts and develop leaders. That is Mason’s mission – and they do it better than almost any other school.” I am proud to have called the Mason School home and to be a part of this incredible Tribe.
