An outside observer walking into the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center during Homecoming weekend might have suspected that the alumni and students present were engaging in an elaborate game of musical chairs.
In fact, the group -- assembled into an outer circle of alumni and an inner circle of students -- was conducting a student-alumni job networking session, albeit in an unconventional fashion. At the sound of a bell, the students would rotate one space and talk to the next available alumnus.
"Speed mentoring" is just one of many programs designed to promote interactions between alumni and minority students, as alumni can play an integral role in the job recruitment process.
Many say mentoring is especially crucial for minority students who may face specific issues when entering the workforce.
"When I talk to someone similar to me culturally [about his or her job], there is so much I can understand subconsciously by the way they talk and act, by what they say they do on their free time, by where they live," College senior Jenn Choi said.
Choi said that meeting a Penn alumnus and business executive who was both a native Alaskan and a Korean American, like herself, helped allay her concerns about entering the business world.
"You can feel a sense of kinship," Choi said.
Though Choi met her mentor through a job panel, there are many other resources on campus that seek to partner students and alumni of the same race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.
One way in which minority students can contact alumni is through the Penn Career Network on the Career Services Web site. This database, which can be utilized by all students, has a section in which students can search for a "special population" of alumni to contact. These special populations range from blacks to women to "students who wish to teach music in Taiwan." When alumni sign up to be listed on the database, they have the option of volunteering to be mentors for whichever populations they choose.
Jerome Zaslow, who is the president and CEO of a Pennsylvania business, volunteered to be a mentor for black, Asian-American and Latino students. He said that three students have contacted him so far this year and that only one has been a minority student.
"It doesn't have to be minorities. Anyone who is interested is welcome," he said. "Any kids who are hungry and want to learn, let them come."
Another mentor, WNYC Radio Executive Producer for Music Programming Elena Park, said that she has received only limited responses from Penn students. She said that she chose to be a mentor for minority populations because she is "interested in talking to people from a variety of backgrounds who might be underrepresented in the media."
Minority alumni societies also play a large role in helping minority students network with professionals. PennGALA, the LGBT alumni association, offers a program in which LGBT alumni periodically volunteer to take a small group of students interested in their professions out to dinner.
Wharton senior Seth Weissman, who will be entering the business world this summer, said that meeting with alumni in settings such as these is invaluable in making an informed decision about where to work.
"Anybody can write on their Web site that they are open to a diverse group of people, but there is a difference between what a publicist writes and talking to LGBT individuals who have been there," he said.
Though networking between alumni and students of similar backgrounds has its benefits, many encourage Penn students to view all alumni as valuable resources.
"Sure blackness is important, but we can't forget that [alumni of different backgrounds] are all Penn alumni," said Karlene Burrell-McRae, who is director of Makuu, the black student hub on campus.
