More than 600 students, alumni, educators and business professionals gathered in Philadelphia this weekend to participate in one of the largest student-run business conferences in the country. The Wharton School African American MBA Association's 24th annual Whitney M. Young Jr. Memorial Conference was held from January 15-18 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City. The conference, which featured a career fair, keynote speakers, panels, roundtable discussions and live entertainment, was established in 1973 by four students in memory of the late Whitney Young, Jr. Young served as director of the National Urban League, an organization which works to improve the economic status of African Americans. Revolving around of the theme, "Renaissance: Delivering Tools for a New Era," the conference offered keynote speakers such as Lehman Brothers Managing Director Ernest Green, who spoke of the valuable skills needed in today's business world. Green was a member of the historic "Little Rock Nine." Other keynote speakers included Botswana President-elect Festus Mogae, who is currently the country's vice president and minister of finance and development. He spoke of business options in Africa and encouraged students to take advantage of the country's economic opportunities. Second-year Wharton MBA student and conference chairperson Tina Moore said the event provides career opportunities, networking and social activities for participants. "We've received so much positive feedback," Moore said. "Many said that this year's conference was the best ever." Moore attributed this year's success to the "overall execution of the event." In particular, "the keynote speakers and entertainment were top of the line" this year, she said. First-year Wharton MBA student and conference board member Dale Dykes agreed that the event was highly successful this year, adding that he believed it attracted the largest crowd ever. Dykes said conference organizers also encourage students from other universities to attend the conference's career fair, which was attended by students from many of the nation's top schools, including Harvard and Columbia universities and the University of Chicago. He attributed the event's popularity to the fact that it "provides minorities with role models in the business area." "It allows students to see very successful people of the same hue as themselves on Wall Street and corporate America who can present the do's and don'ts of business in an informal way," he said. Among the more popular events was Friday's career fair, which allowed students to meet and present resumes to job recruiters from more than 70 companies across the country. Recruiters included representatives from Wall Street business, major banks and companies like Coca-Cola.
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