Ernst & Young Sponsors Freshman Fellows Orientation

College Park, Md. – Aug. 29, 2011 – The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted its annual Freshman Fellows Orientation Program, sponsored by Ernst & Young. Staffed by representatives from both the Smith School and Ernst & Young, the day kicked off with group icebreakers and several songs performed by UMD a capella group, The Generics.

Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Pat Cleveland, then welcomed the newest members of the Smith community and went on to introduce G. “Anand” Anandalingam, dean of the Smith School, who addressed the students. “You’re joining an unbelievable set of undergraduates – the Smith School has a very warm, friendly, motivated student body.” Dean Anand continued, “With a good business education, you can certainly do good things for yourself, but more importantly you can go on to do great things for this world.”

Ernst & Young keynote speaker Ken Bouyer, Americas director of inclusiveness recruiting, then took the podium after an introduction from Ernst & Young Tax Partner Arun Subhas.

In a presentation titled “Inclusive Leadership: Tools for the global workforce”, Bouyer began by advising students, “Don’t be happy just to be here. The fact that you got into the business school is an incredible accomplishment, but the real work begins now.”

Delving into the global theme of his discussion, Bouyer talked about the many ways the world of global business has changed during his time with Ernst & Young, remembering back to a time where there was no voicemail, so reaching people in China was a challenge. He said, “Our clients are strictly and truly global. I can’t even imagine in four or five years how things will look, when you’re ready to graduate.”

To really demonstrate the true diversity of global business, Bouyer broke the world’s demographics down to a room of 100 people. He told the crowd that of those people, 61 are Asian, 13 are African, 12 are European, nine are Latin American/Caribbean, and only five are American. More sounds of astonishment arose when he said that of these people, 17 speak some form of Chinese, and only eight speak English.

Bouyer also challenged the freshmen to redefine “diversity” by expanding their frames of reference. “Diversity inclusiveness is about bringing who to you are to the business school, and maintaining your consistency throughout.”

The program then moved on to “Success Seminars,” which targeted topics of interest to new college students, including health and wellness, academic success, and career preparation. Students were then given time with their Smith mentors, followed by dinner, which gave freshmen the opportunity to get to know each other, Smith faculty and staff, and the enthusiastic Ernst & Young volunteers.

Ernst & Young’s generous $250,000 gift to the Smith School in June 2009 created the orientation program and endowment, producing a day of team-building, top-rate keynote speakers and seminars, and valuable networking opportunities with the Ernst & Young staff in attendance. Ernst & Young has a 30-year relationship with the Smith School, with their giving totaling more than $1 million, including construction of an Ernst & Young classroom and the establishment of a student scholarship.

For more information on the Robert H. Smith School of Business’ Fellows programs, please visit the website.

Amy M. Taylor, Office of Marketing Communications