First GBM of New Board 1/28

            The first BWUA GBM of the year was a smashing success. Attendance was great, and people even came on time! The board looked dashing in their formal attire as they introduced themselves before everyone moved quickly into the food from Sangkee. Notable among the announcements was the switch to a new monthly GBM system instead of the previous bi-weekly one, which aims to give more time for committee sponsored events. The board also announced a renewed dedication to reinvention in the sense of both new initiatives as well as expanding the focus of the club past Finance. As everyone ate, the Director of Alumni Relations Lucas O’Connor and Director of Membership Taylor O’Hare began the GBM discussion. The discussion was an introspective look at BWUA, and discussed both its positive and negative aspects in addition to the future direction of the organization. Members remarked that they enjoyed the sense of community present in the club, and cited communication as an area in which the club could improve. Following the discussion, the board put on a lighthearted skit on the Do’s and Don’ts of Interviews. Historian Ashi Okonneh, Director of Professional Development Titi Oshinaya, and Director of Community service Ernest Owens all stared. This acted as a segway into an interview competition among the members, characterized by the brainteaser “How many Neflix DVDs get lost in the mail each year?”  After some funny responses, the GBM was almost over save a brief presentation from the founder of the Penn startup Lokalty. All in all, it was a thrilling GBM and a great way to start off the new semester.

First GBM

            The first BWUA GBM of the year was a smashing success. Attendance was great, and people even came on time! The board looked dashing in their formal attire as they introduced themselves before everyone moved quickly into the food from Sangkee. Notable among the announcements was the switch to a new monthly GBM system instead of the previous bi-weekly one, which aims to give more time for committee sponsored events. The board also announced a renewed dedication to reinvention in the sense of both new initiatives as well as expanding the focus of the club past Finance. As everyone ate, the Director of Alumni Relations Lucas O’Connor and Director of Membership Taylor O’Hare began the GBM discussion. The discussion was an introspective look at BWUA, and discussed both its positive and negative aspects in addition to the future direction of the organization. Members remarked that they enjoyed the sense of community present in the club, and cited communication as an area in which the club could improve. Following the discussion, the board put on a lighthearted skit on the Do’s and Don’ts of Interviews. Historian Ashi Okonneh, Director of Professional Development Titi Oshinaya, and Director of Community service Ernest Owens all stared. This acted as a segway into an interview competition among the members, characterized by the brainteaser “How many Neflix DVDs get lost in the mail each year?”  After some funny responses, the GBM was almost over save a brief presentation from the founder of the Penn startup Lokalty. All in all, it was a thrilling GBM and a great way to start off the new semester.

12/6/11 - BWUA Executive Board Elections

Tonight, 10 BWUA members ran for the organization's 5 executive board positions. The presentations and deliberations took 3 hours but when all was said and done, the club had a new core leadership group for the upcoming year.

Congratulations to the new Executive Board!
President - Jarrid Tingle
VP of Finance - Kelsey Taylor
VP of Corporate Development - Marcus Hawkins-Dungey
VP of External Affairs - Oyinda Adefioye
VP of Internal Affairs - Paul Ampofo

12/1/11-12/2/11 - The 26th Annual HEMM Conference

On the first two days of December, The Black Wharton Undergraduate Association began the internship recruiting season by hosting its largest event of the year. The Howard E. Mitchell Memorial Conference is BWUA’s annual conference wherein members are allowed to network and interact with potential employers. This year, Jarrid Tingle and Oyinda Adefoiye expertly planned the conference along with the help of members of the HEMM Committee.The event began Thursday night with the alumni desert reception, in which alumni, recruiters and students gathered on the eighth floor of Huntsman Hall for a night of informal networking and a performance from one of Penn’s student performance groups, The Inspiration. On Friday December 2nd, all sixteen corporate sponsors were present for a day which began with a career fair followed by two discussion panels and concluded by a celebratory luncheon featuring keynote speaker Marc Morial.

11/29/11 GBM - Crash Course to HEMM

In anticipation of the upcoming 26th annual Howard E. Mitchell Memorial (HEMM) Conference, BWUA hosted a general body meeting to teach members all they need to know in order to make this year’s conference a success. HEMM Committee co-directors Oyinda Adefoye and Jarrid Tingle along with HEMM committee members Albert Williams, Marcus Hawkins-Dungey and Paul Ampofo led the meeting. They outlined the steps that members should take to prepare for the conference to reap the many benefits the conference has to offer. To conclude, conference packets were handed out to ensure the members had a written guide for their individual preparations.

11/15/11 GBM - Networking 101

In anticipation of the HEMM (Howard E. Mitchell Memorial) Conference, BWUA brought in professional executive coach Barbara Roche to coach members on the intricacies of networking through an interactive presentation. Barbara ran through numerous networking essentials, such as the elements of a great pitch and how to properly enter and exit conversations. All throughout the presentation, members were allowed to practice with one another as they refined their skills. To conclude, Barbara told members that on days they would be networking to have energy, to smile and to allow their personalities to show. Certainly all members are now poised to succeed at the upcoming HEMM conference.

11/01/2011 General Body Meeting -- How Did You Get That Internship?

Today the Black Wharton Undergraduate Association’s general body meeting consisted of a panel of five distinguished members who have had internships in finance, consulting, technology and entertainment. The panelists described the work they did in their various internships, the Penn resources they used to get there, the skills required for the job and finally any advice they had for younger students wishing to follow in their footsteps into their respective industries. The present members were then given the opportunity to email for a chance to take part in a group dinner with the panelists to ask more questions in an informal setting.