Africa Day hosted by Black MBA Association

Kemisola Yusuf on BMBAA’s Africa Day
The Black MBA recently hosted a very successful cultural event dubbed “Africa Day”. Smith Media Group caught up with one of organizers of the event Kemisola Yusuf (MBA 2005). She took us behind the scene to see what putting the event together involved. Following are excerpts from the interview.

On how the idea came up
When the BMBAA executive team was brainstorming ideas for events that the club shouldsponsor for the 2004-5 academic year, I came up with the idea for an African cultural day. I felt this would be a great educational and fun event that would also help raise awareness about the African continent within the business school. There is so much for our classmates to learn about this emerging market in terms of business opportunities and culture as they prepare take on global roles in their careers.

On getting the whole event together
Ayo Odusote (MBA 2005) was chosen by the BMBAA executive board as the project lead to coordinate the event. He did a great job of working within people's schedules so as to obtain their commitment and support for the event; he even managed to pull in part-time students! My job was to lead the marketing part of it.

From your point of view, which of the element of the night did attendees like the most?
Without a doubt it was the dancing. We not only demonstrated to them how vigorous African dancing is but we also taught them how to do it. I think they also loved the food and learning about business protocol in Africa.

What would be your advice to a team looking to do a similar/follow up event?
Start early so that you dedicate enough time to planning and start early. Then choose a good team lead that will get as many people involved as possible. Getting other members of the club involved helps you get great ideas that will make the event even more successful. Make your event as fun as possible. People love to have fun while learning! Do not dismiss word-of-mouth advertising, most of our members took it upon themselves to talk to their friends about the event and tickets were sold out a week to the event.

Indian Festival: "Rangoli, The Colors of India, 2005"

From Wednesday, April 6 – Friday, April 8, Smith MBA students learned and celebrated the Indian culture. The India Festival, sponsored by the International Club and the India Club, consisted of three days of events, beginning with a reception on the courtyard, mehendi (ancient Indian body art), and a viewing of the Indian film "Dil Chahta Hai".

The festivities continued into Thursday, when Indian students prepared an evening of food and drink for guests to reflect and learn about the Indian culture. From a homemade Indian buffet to traditional Indian dances performed by Smith MBA students, professors and guests were provided a unique view into the experiences of fellow Indian MBA students.

And what Indian celebration would be complete without a game of cricket?! The final day of the Indian Festival pitted first year Smith MBAs against second years on the greens of the University of Maryland. This first year MBA is happy to report that the second years were no match for the first year team!

Admitted Students Weekend 2005

 It is hard to believe that in a few short months, the Smith School will be welcoming the new Class of 2007 for its full-time MBA program. To encourage the admitted students to enroll at Smith, the MBA Admissions Office recently held its Admitted Students’ Weekend – aptly themed “The Road to Smith” – on April 8th and 9th 2005. The Smith community welcomed more than 50 admitted students from the Class of 2007 and their guests to gain a closer look at the program as well as meet the people with whom they may be spending the next two years.

A host of activities were lined up for the weekend. The first day included tours of Van Munching Hall & UM’s campus, Dean Cherie Scricca’s Welcome Speech, Club Bazaar and Social Event @ Cornerstone Pub in College Park. On the second day, the weekend continued on in a whirlwind-fashion, featuring Ace the Case (by Professor Anil Gupta), Career Management@Smith, Financial Aid Q&A, Lunch with Current Students, Current MBA Students & Alumni Panel and Team Building (by Professor Jeffrey Kudisch).

Laura Lourenco, an admitted student, felt that the teambuilding exercise was terrific. As it was the first time the admitted students had to work together as a group, she was thrilled to get a glimpse of what the coming year in Smith will bring.

The weekend culminated with the evening reception & dinner, when Dean Howard Frank officially welcomed the admitted students and Adi Padha, BearingPoint CTO, delivered a memorable keynote speech on his MBA experience at Smith a decade ago. Said one of the admitted students, Padha's personal story and passion for Smith has given a strong sense of value of the Smith MBA.

As always, there was a great showing of current students and faulty members, who are ever so willing to serve as a resource for the admitted students and make them feel right at home at Smith. Of course, the event could not have been a success without the hard work of the Admissions Office and its viBe Team.

“My overall experience was wonderful. It was fast-paced and packed with useful information about all aspects of being a Smith student. I was already very pleased with my decision to come to Smith, and this weekend only offered more material for the "pro" list,” said Lourenco. Another admitted student also shared Lourenco’s sentiment and complimented that the diversity of the program and the attention paid to detail made for a very informative and pleasant experience.

Black MBA Association Case Competition Winners

Four first year BMBAA members placed third in the Key Bank Minority Case Competition with their business proposal on the restructuring of Key Bank’s customer base. Congratulations to the foursome that participated in the first Key Bank Minority Case competition that took place on March 5th, 2005: Melissa Davis, Priscilla Mwangi, Bankole Osimokun, and Kip Yego. The Smith team’s proposal was titled “Next Key Program”.

Below is feedback from one of the team members, Melissa Davis:

“The Key Bank Minority Case Competition was a great learning experience for me. Not only did it reinforce the importance of effective communication and presentation skills, it was an opportunity to learn a great deal about the retail banking industry. While the banking industry was not initially of interest to me, the knowledge I gained from this case attracted my interest and helped me secure my summer internship position with JP Morgan Chase. The competition also gave us the opportunity to meet and network with some of the top executives from Key Bank on numerous occasions -- the experience was priceless.”

Wine Tasting at Smith