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Graduating Students Aim to Give Back to Business School

Inspired by the generosity of alumni, students at the Wisconsin School of Business are doing their part to get involved and have an impact. This spring, students from both the undergraduate and the MBA class of 2008 are leading commencement campaigns to encourage their classmates to make a gift to the school at graduation.

While the MBA commencement campaign is in its fourth year, this marks the first year that a sustained campaign has been undertaken by undergraduate students. A group of 15 undergraduate students, led by student co-chairs Travis Jones and Jon Kuether, have set an ambitious goal of 20 percent participation in a class of more than 600 students.

“We’ve seen firsthand the impact that alumni gifts to the school can have on our experience as students,” said Kuether, an accounting student scheduled to graduate in May. “We want to help our classmates understand how important it is to give back and stay connected with the school.”

For the MBA students, the bar is set high. They are following in the footsteps of the MBA Class of 2007, which led a campaign that resulted in an unprecedented 99 percent participation rate. This year’s graduating MBA class will strive to engage the entire class in the campaign and encourage more graduates to make leadership gifts with multi-year pledges. “We believe creating a culture of giving at the Wisconsin School of Business starts with students,” said MBA campaign committee member Solymar Berrios, an MBA student in brand and product management. “We know private support is essential to maintaining a world-class business school and we want to do our part.”