Diversity Business Summit Scheduled for March 21

Diversity Business Summit Scheduled for March 21March 18, 2003Michele M. Jachimmmjachim@syr.edu

As part of an annual tradition at Syracuse University, the Career Services Network, the Center for Career Services, and the Office of Multicultural Affairs are organizing the annual Diversity Business Summit March 21 from 10:00 a.m.-3 p.m. at Schine Student Center’s Goldstein Auditorium.

“The Diversity Business Summit is an integral part of SU’s mission in assisting students in making a smooth transition into professional life,” says Michael T. Cahill, director, Center for Career Services. “Employers and students both benefit when businesses put effort into diversifying their workforce. The Summit has created opportunities for students to learn more about available jobs and ways of preparing for a career, regardless of whether they are first-year students just beginning their career exploration or juniors and seniors well on their way to pursuing their career goals.”

The day will include a diversity training seminar for employers, a panel discussion with employers and alumni, and a career information fair. Originally established by a student organization, the African American Male Congress, this event began as the Black Business Summit in 2001 and was renamed the Diversity Business Summit in 2002.

The Summit will attempt to bridge the gap between diverse students and employers who are seeking opportunities to diversify their workforce. The Summit is open to all students, but is specifically designed to address the professional development needs of students of color; students with disabilities; international students; lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) populations; students with different religious affiliations; and women. Diversity is one of Syracuse University’s five core values, and is identified as a priority in both the University’s Academic Plan and the Division of Student Affairs’ 2001-2006 Strategic Plan.

Senior vice president of marketing for MCA Records and SU alumna Marilyn Batchelor ’84 will be the keynote speaker during the event. She will speak on “The Work Ethic” during a sit-down lunch at the Goldstein Auditorium. The first 125 students to pre-register for the conference will receive complimentary admission to the luncheon. Lunch and Batchelor’s keynote address will take place at 1:00 p.m.

Batchelor proudly admits she is a product of the Detroit Public School System’s Cass Technical High School. She continued her education with a bachelor of arts in English literature from The College of Arts and Sciences, and a bachelor of science in magazine journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. During her time at SU, she founded the University’s chapter of the NAACP and served as its first president in 1983. She holds an M.B.A. degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and has attended certification programs at the Harvard Business School, the African American Leadership Training Institute at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management, and Purdue University, where she completed her theological studies for ordainment. Batchelor received SU’s Chancellor’s Citation in Music, one of the University’s highest honors, in 2003.

She worked full-time at Virgin Records before entering her current job in 1994 at MCA Records in Santa Monica, California. At MCA, Batchelor’s work has included responsibility for marketing the work of renowned artists Mary J. Blige, Patti LaBelle, Gladys Knight, George Benson, Al Green and Rahsaan Patterson. She has overseen specialty campaigns for MCA in conjunction with Black History Month and Black Music Month.

For more information or to register for the luncheon, please visit http://students.syr.edu/careerservices or call Gregory Victory at 443-9083 or Veronica George at 443-7187.