MBA golf tournament
helps fund assistantships
Alumni and friends of the University of Mississippi School of Business Administration helped fund graduate scholarships and even did a little networking by hitting the links for the second annual MBA Golf Tournament held April 29 at the Ole Miss Golf Course.
This year's golf tournament raised $13,000, thanks to the generous sponsorships, donations and golfers who came out to support the Ole Miss MBA program.
The funds will benefit the John N. Palmer Assistantship Fund. Established to recognize academic and professional excellence among the MBA applicants, a Palmer Assistantship allows students from diverse backgrounds and nations to become part of what is now ranked as a top 100 MBA program by "U.S. News and World Report."
The tournament was planned, organized and run by students in the MBA program, said Bethany Cooper, director of corporate relations and MBA services at the business school.
"They held the first-ever tournament last year and raised just about $10,000, which equaled three graduate assistantships," Cooper said. "Scholarships allow us to continue to recruit those top candidates, and this year's class is so philanthropic that they wanted to keep it going and pay it forward to the next class."
For the tournament, 28 teams played an 18-hole scramble and were treated to lunch provided by Ole Miss Catering after the round. The 56 golfers playing in the tournament competed for a new Acura TL, and the top two teams received a four-day/three-night trip to renowned Pinehurst Resort in the Village of Pinehurst, N.C., to represent Ole Miss and Oxford in the Acura College Alumni Team Championship to be held Oct. 28-30, 2011. The team of Michael Naaman and Becker Sams took first place with a combined score of 57. The team of Greg Gowen and Josh Matthews came in second with a score of 62, and they also will be competing at Pinehurst.
The organizers were proud to see this year's event raise even more money than last year's inaugural tournament, Cooper said.
"We want more engagement, and we want to make this an annual opportunity for our alums to come back and visit with us and to hear how the MBA program is growing," she said.
"We are really excited with the turnout and the overall success of the event," said MBA student Andrew Nail, head of the golf tournament committee. "We wanted to continue the tradition and give back to support a program that has given so much to our class. Seeing our months of effort come together today, I am very proud of what we were able to accomplish. I definitely think that the tournament will continue to be a success for years to come."
Organizing the tournament is an excellent way for the MBA students to learn how to work in team settings and interact with business leaders, said Ken Cyree, business school dean.
"It is a way for businesspeople to meet with students and interact with them one-on-one," Cyree said. "It develops a rapport so that you can really get to the heart of somebody rather than just a 30-minute interview when both parties are on their best behaviors."
In 2009, the UM business school, which houses the MBA program, was ranked No. 83 in the "U.S. News and World Report" ranking. The golf tournament helps raise funding to recruit top candidates to the MBA program.
"We are the only top 100 program in Mississippi, so we are very proud of that," Cooper said.
