Thirty rising high school seniors from across the country received a lecture on business ethics from Darden Prof. Alexander B. Horniman yesterday as part of a three-week program that brings minority students to study at university business schools.
The Leadership Education and Development program provides an introduction to business leadership for underrepresented minority students. The program, which has been at the University for over 15 years, currently is offered by 11 other business schools, including Dartmouth, Duke and the University of Chicago.
Horniman's lecture focused on the "moral gray" - practices and decisions in business administration that are not clearly right or wrong.
"Typically, these are not easy decisions," Horniman said.
The recent multi-billion dollar scandals of Enron and WorldCom are only "aberrations," he said. "It's not a pattern."
Horniman stressed that disasters such as Enron result from habitual bad decision-making on a small level.
"The people at Enron didn't make one big decision to rip people off," he said. "They made a lot of little decisions that they didn't think about."
The faculty who participate in the LEAD program at the Darden school all are doing so on a volunteer basis, according to LEAD co-director Marc Modica, who is a faculty lecturer at Darden.
"I love to see the students get everything they can from the program and flourish," Modica said. "The faculty love it too. My joy is bringing the two together."
Darden Communications Specialist Seamane Flanagan said the LEAD program targets minority students who may be interested in business endeavors.
The program "is to get them interested in business and get their feet in the door," she said.
The students who participate in LEAD are predominantly black, Hispanic and Native-American, though any minority student is eligible for LEAD.
"Those three groups are our focus," LEAD National Program Administrator Ayanna Dewer said. "But any underrepresented student can apply."
Dewer said LEAD hopes to add 10 to 15 more schools in the next two years to accommodate the growing demand for the program.
Last year, 1,600 students applied for 376 spots, according to Dewer.
Students who score high enough on their SATs and identify themselves as a minority on the test information are invited to apply for the program.
Brittany Gould, who attends high school in Fort Worth, Texas, said attending LEAD has convinced her to pursue a business career.
"I always thought I wanted to go into law," she said. "Now I want to go into business."
Chris Conanan, who hails from Spotsylvania, Va., said the program was valuable in that it was an experience one couldn't get elsewhere.
"I've gotten to learn a lot of things they don't teach in high school," he said.
Horniman said he gave the ethics lecture later in the program, which is in its final week, because of the topic's importance.
"For me, this is the currency of relationships," he said. "What I hope is that if you get the everyday issues right, you'll get things right down the line"
Read More
U.Va. loses over $60 million in federal research cuts
By Bertie Azqueta | YesterdayThe impacted grants include three from the NIH, seven from the NEH, one from the United States Agency for International Development and four from the State Department.
Department of Education reverses course, awards Federal Executive Institute to U.Va.
By Ford McCracken | 4 days agoThe ED had previously awarded the institute to Charlottesville City Schools.
Students reflect on the life and legacy of Pope Francis
By Bertie Azqueta | 5 days agoAt the University, students shared a range of perspectives on his legacy of reform, inclusivity and his impact on the global Catholic community.
