Business 101, continued...

According to College Senior Vice President Frank Vellaccio, a liberal arts education instills in young adults communication and problem solving skills, and an openness to new ideas—all essential to developing an “entrepreneurial spirit.” Entrepreneurs are creative people, Vellaccio adds, who seize opportunities to develop something new and exciting.

“An entrepreneurial spirit has tremendous synergy with the liberal arts tradition,” he continues. “We may have been delinquent in not discovering this sooner.”

Although Maloney says the creation of the Executive in Residence Program is not an attempt to become part of the Holy Cross curriculum, program participants envision a day when it may become just that.

George, one of the founding fathers of the program, comments that he would like to see the Executive in Residence Program one day “integrated into the curriculum” in a programmatic form. For instance, he says that he could imagine a program where Holy Cross alumni executives take a year off from their careers and teach business courses.

“This has a tremendous potential to be part of the curriculum, but that may be years away,” George notes. “The integration of real life business people made the program more relevant to the students. It demystifies the business world. It’s not as scary for students.”

Kelley adds that Holy Cross may want to consider one day adding business classes as electives to prepare students for careers in the business world. He acknowledges that there could be resistance to the notion but believes that the pros and cons should be openly discussed.

“This could be debated,” he says, “but I think we should have this debate at Holy Cross.”

Vellaccio maintains that there are currently no plans to add a business major or minor to the Holy Cross curriculum. However, he explains that, using the weeklong model of the Executive in Residence Program, the school may consider a summer program whereby students create and operate a venture on campus—such as food service.

As students learn about business, another issue arises—whether or not it is possible to be a moral person within a highly competitive corporate environment. Do the moral values taught at Holy Cross stop at the college gates as students venture into the world of business?

“As a Catholic college, moral values are grounded in the Christian faith,” Chu says. “We can prepare future business leaders who are bright and technically competent to also have a moral compass. We can’t guarantee that all of our graduates are going to go out and change the world, but hopefully our graduates will have the moral conviction of right and wrong and make decisions based on that. If our graduates are faced with an ethical decision, at least they know where the moral boundaries are.”

With the scandals at Enron, Tyco, Worldcom and other corporate giants dominating the news the last few years, the business world would seem to be a place where ethics and morals are often not held in high regard. But the executives who participated in the Executive in Residence Program strongly disagree, saying that ethics plays an important role in how they and their peers conduct business.

They maintain that the Jesuit tradition of morality and the giving of one’s self for the greater good are also compatible with business. During the week of the Executive in Residence Program, a number of discussions between executives and students were held concerning business ethics and how businesspeople should respond to particular situations.

In fact, some of the executives say that they developed ethical standards and a commitment to social responsibility at Holy Cross—and that these values continue to figure prominently in their professional lives.

For instance, the corporate values at Becton Dickinson are consistent with Ludwig’s personal values—and are what he cherishes about his work. Deeply involved with community service all over the world, the medical technology company serves as lead sponsor, working with the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and other nonprofits to eliminate neonatal tetanus in places like Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe.

The recently established Becton Dickinson volunteer program sent 12 employees to remote parts of Zambia for three weeks this spring to work in hospitals and laboratories. The company is also involved with a number of other service projects, including tsunami relief.

“We want to do only good,” Ludwig says. “This is very consistent with the Holy Cross experience. You can live the values that Holy Cross wants to instill in you, and you can bring that to business. You can be a good Christian and be good in business. It was affirming to students that you can continue to have a moral compass and still be successful in business. There doesn’t have to be a conflict.”

The lessons in business ethics and the commitment to giving back to society struck a responsive chord with many students in the program. Psychology major Erin Duggan ’06 says, “It was amazing to see the president of the company (Becton Dickinson) going to Africa to help out.”

“The things that matter at Holy Cross, such as ethics and Christian values, matter in business,” adds George. “The skills that Holy Cross builds, and its core values and principles, are applicable in the business world.”

“I still call on a set of guiding principles that I developed at Holy Cross,” he continues. “They complement my life inside of business, they don’t compete with it. Holy Cross calls you to serve other people, and you can serve people from a business platform.”

The discussion and debate will continue concerning the place of business training in the liberal arts and Jesuit traditions—as well as where the Executive in Residence Program fits in at Holy Cross. The fact is students and executives in the program raved about it, and many said that they would participate again. Meanwhile, another Executive in Residence session is scheduled for spring break 2006.

Chu believes the Executive in Residence Program will eventually be expanded to 30 participants—and may need to run more than once a year to accommodate all of the students who want to take part. Aside from expanding the program to include more students, Chu is not sure in what ways it will evolve over the years. The suggestions and influence of the participating alumni executives will be an important factor in the program’s ongoing development.

Right now, Chu is confident that Holy Cross students who participate in the Executive in Residence Program are getting an invaluable, real-world education.

“The only cost to the students is that they are giving up their spring break,” Chu says.

“They are working 60-80 hours during that week,” he continues. “But, in working hard, they learn a lot. I thought, ‘where could I find a free-of-charge, weeklong workshop like this taught by top executives on fundamental business topics?’—and I couldn’t think of any. It’s an opportunity students should not forgo.”

Michael Reardon is a freelance writer from Southampton, Mass.