We return to this week’s Campus Chronicles with a perusal of Wharton’s student newspaper, The Wharton Journal, to learn about the latest events on Wharton’s campus. Our hope is that this summary of the latest happenings at Huntsman Hall is helpful for Wharton applicants in the midst of R1 interviews as well as for candidates targeting R2!
With the culmination of the six-week Jay H. Baker Retailing Initiative Speaker Series, this fall offered ample opportunities for Wharton students to learn about the fashion and retail business. Wharton’s campus was visited by three top executives in the field: Millard Drexler, the chief executive of J. Crew, Terry Lundgren, Macy’s CEO, President, Director, and Chairman of the Board, and Martha Stewart. Students who participated in the Fashion & Luxury Club treks also met with industry executives during their trips to firms including J. Crew, Gilt Group, Li & Fung, and Bonobos. Executives at these events cited creativity, mixed media, and catering to customers as integral to success, especially due to the recent economic challenges. Despite these challenges, upcoming Wharton graduates were informed of the broad opportunities for job placements in this industry: Macy’s, for example, is looking to hire 200 MBA students this year. Wharton treks occurring later this year include a visit to Polo Ralph Lauren as well as a week-long trip to Europe over spring break.
This past weekend Wharton students had the chance to attend the Wharton Africa Business Conference and learn about the business opportunities available throughout the continent. Panels focused on the traditional topics of capital markets and private equity as well as the growth of African businesses, a topic previous uninvestigated. Thierry Tanoh, International Finance Corporations’ Vice President for Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe for the Global Manufacturing Industry Cluster, was the keynote speaker in the morning session. Citing the 200,000 bank accounts held in Congo despite its 60 million citizens, he emphasized the opportunities available in this country. During the “Panel on the Brain Gain,” Zemedenen Negatu, an MD at Ernst & Young, and Kunbi Oguneye, the Head of Strategy at Nigeria’s Oceanic Bank, discussed the importance of African countries providing incentives for its citizens to return to Africa and use their education and experience to contribute to the country’s growth. Others speakers included Louisa Mojela, founder of WIPHOLD, the first all-women’s investment fund in Africa as well as Anna Getaneh, a former model who recently founded her own couture African fashion line. Both Mojela and Getaneh discussed overcoming the challenges of being a woman in the business world, both in Africa and internationally.
November has been a winning month for Wharton students engaged in business competitions. Wharton won first place at the Cornell-Fidelity MBA Stock Pitch Competition, thanks to the efforts of first-years Victor Bonilla, Nikhil Gadia, and Joe O’Donnell. In this 12-team tournament, each team had 12 hours to determine buy, sell, or hold recommendations on three stocks and then present their decisions to a judging panel of investment management experts. Not only is this year the first time Wharton has won top prize, it comes off last year’s second place win, which was the first time Wharton placed in the competition. Wharton also took the top prize at the Sixth Annual American Bankruptcy Institute (“ABI”) Corporate Restructuring Competition. Participants in this competition have one week to use their knowledge on bankruptcy topics to solve a real-world restructuring case problem, this year prepared by Houlihan Lokey. Teams prepared an operational and financial plan to solve the issue, ultimately presenting before a plan of judges acting as management, the board of directors, and bondholders. Three of the 12 participating teams advanced to the final round, and Wharton’s Amit Gupta (WG ’10), Howard Levine (WG ’10), Colin McGinnis (WG ’11) and Adam Piekarski (WG ’11) ultimately won first place. McGinnis cites his team’s ability to please the three different groups represented in the judging panel as a substantial reason for his team’s success.
