Wharton conference kicks off with alumni reception

The 26th annual Howard E. Mitchell Memorial Conference kicked off with an alumni dessert reception Thursday night in Hunstman Hall.

The event — which featured a performance by The Inspiration, a coed a cappella group at Penn — was hosted by the Black Wharton Undergraduate Association.

BWUA’s Director of Alumni Relations and Wharton senior Hind Hassan explained that the alumni dessert reception “allows students to ease into the conference by introducing them to recruiters and alumni in an informal setting.” She added that several conference sponsors are Wharton alumni.

The annual conference takes place at the beginning of December, as on-campus recruitment begins next semester, she added.

“We’re expecting 150 undergraduates and 50 corporate sponsors at the conference this year,” said Wharton sophomore and co-chair of HEMM Oyinda Adefioye. The 18 sponsoring companies in attendance include Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Macy’s. Wharton senior and BWUA President Triston Francis was pleased to partake in the planning of his fourth HEMM conference, and was impressed with the increase in freshman contribution to planning this year.

Wharton freshman Justin Malone, one of HEMM’s organizers, was looking forward to “having the opportunity as a freshman to network with different marketing and operational management companies.”

The conference, which takes place Friday morning, includes a career fair and two discussion panels led by Marketing assistant professor Keisha Cutright. This year’s discussion panel topics are “Scaling the Corporate Ladder: The Journey towards Exceeding Expectations” and “The Real Business World: What The Books Won’t Tell You.” HEMM will conclude with a celebratory luncheon featuring speaker Marc Morial, CEO and President of the National Urban League.

The conference is not limited to Wharton students. College freshman Stephanie Jideama affirmed that “it’s still relevant to [her] even though [she is] pre-med because you never know what opportunities await you.”

Malcolm Evans, an analyst at the European Equity Sales group at Citi and 2011 Wharton alum, did not hesitate to come back to Penn as a sponsor for HEMM, as he believes “BWUA helped [him] build his career.”

“It’s a think tank in terms of corporate etiquette and passing down knowledge and experience,” he said.

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