Brotherly love is spreading to the Wharton School.
Students, alumni, faculty and administration members packed into Huntsman Hall yesterday to mark Wharton's 125th anniversary.
The event, which featured red and blue M&M;'s and rubber bracelets stamped with the school's name, was the kickoff of what will be a year-and-a-half long celebration of the school.
Wharton Dean Patrick Harker was the keynote speaker, addressing both the school's history and its global agenda for the future.
Students on both the undergraduate and graduate levels said they enjoyed the event.
"It's nice to do something other than ... meet with study teams on the lower floor of Huntsman," said MBA student Philip Kirk.
Still, attention was primarily focused on undergraduates.
The celebration "is all about Wharton undergraduates," said Wharton Vice Dean Barbara Kahn. "Wharton was the first collegiate business program. ... The MBA program came later."
While many students said they were primarily attracted to the event by free food, others enjoyed learning more about the school.
"This all makes you feel part of the bigger [Wharton] community and gives a sense of the history of the school," said MBA student Ashish Chordia.
"It's an opportunity to tell the Wharton story to the entire Wharton community in a more comprehensive way ... not just to celebrate the last 125 years but to engage that same Wharton community forward," said Michael Baltes, a spokesman for the school.
But the anniversary party does not end here.
"It's an informal celebratory thing ... to mark the beginning of all the other things that'll come down the pike," Baltes added.
Other events will include conferences and faculty tours around the world, including an upcoming economic summit in New York and a global alumni forum in Istanbul, Turkey.
Faculty and students expect events like these to improve Wharton's image worldwide.
According to Kahn, "Members of these tours will go and talk to alumni and high school guidance counselors and tell them what Wharton is about."
Given the chance to show their school spirit, many students say they are eager to give back to Wharton.
"I'm really passionate about being a student at Wharton," said Wharton sophomore Russell Woo.
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