Events News
Moore School receives $1 million from Wachovia
The Wachovia Foundation has committed $1
million to the Moore School of Business to help fund the education of under represented students in
South Carolina.
The gift, Wachovia’s largest to the University of South Carolina, was announced by Wachovia executives and university officials at a luncheon held February 3 at The Zone, Williams-Brice Stadium.
More than 200 people attended, including two former South Carolina governors, Richard W. Riley and James H. Hodges, and U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC).
“Education is one of the top priorities of the Wachovia Foundation, and using its funds to find ways to strengthen the educational system in the regions where we do business is critical,” said Kendall Alley, Wachovia’s regional president for South Carolina. “The biggest impact we can have is to give bright kids who may not have the opportunity or the wherewithal the chance to understand what it takes to get to college and reinforce that this is something within their reach, regardless of background.”
|
| Pictured above from left: Andrew Sorensen, Kendall Alley, Ken Thompson, Joel Smith |
Ken Thompson, chairman, president, and CEO of Wachovia, was keynote speaker for the luncheon. He told the crowd that the United States is shifting from a consumer-led economy to a commercial-led economy, and that business is good for Wachovia. He added that his corporation’s $1 million gift to the Moore School is the bank’s way of “working on employee recruiting a couple of years down the road.”
Thompson spoke earlier in the day to Moore School students and supporters as part of the Wachovia Executive Lecture Series, which brings in top executives from around the country to share their knowledge with master’s level students.
The Wachovia Undergraduate Scholars Program gift, in the form of $200,000 annually for five years, is intended to recruit and retain under-represented students, including African American and other minority students. Enrollment statistics for 2005 show that African Americans represented 8.2 percent of the undergraduate enrollment at the Moore School of Business, and Hispanic enrollment was 2.1 percent. While Hispanic enrollments have increased slightly in recent years, they are still under represented in comparison to both U.S. and South Carolina populations.
The Wachovia Foundation funds will include direct educational grants, as well as funds for work-study assistantships for Wachovia Scholars. In addition, the funds will support numerous other initiatives to recruit and retain students including summer programs, workshops, and mentoring programs. Wachovia Scholars will also have the opportunity to meet and interact with Wachovia executives.
The first summer camp for high school students will be in 2007, with the first class of Wachovia Scholars entering USC in the fall of 2008.
Ultimately, the gift supports the long-term goals of the University of South Carolina and the Moore School of Business to increase student diversity and to prepare tomorrow’s business leaders to work in a global economy. “Increasing access for under represented students,” the Wachovia proposal states, “makes a major contribution to ensuring that the work place of the future is not only diversified, but staffed by highly skilled employees prepared to work in a global and multicultural environment.”
Joel A. Smith III, dean of the Moore School, said that the gift “is a testament to the common interest of the Moore School of Business, the university, and Wachovia to increase student diversity through innovative recruiting and retention programs.”
USC President Andrew Sorensen thanked Wachovia for its “generous gift.” The gift, he said, “ strengthens my conviction that education must be a partnership between the public and private sector, particularly as experiences outside the classroom become just as important as those inside the classroom for students to obtain a well-rounded education. This program will expose these students to the life-altering experiences and opportunities of a college education.”
Alley added that: “Hopefully, those who benefit from the gift…will take what they’ve learned, use it in their jobs and in the community, and ultimately elevate South Carolina. We’re hoping that the recipients of this funding will give back to the state… and maybe inspire others to do the same.”
Wachovia Corporation is one of the nation’s largest providers of financial services, with 13 million customers in 15 states and Washington, D.C. Its brokerage firm, Wachovia Securities, serves customers nationwide, and global services are offered through 40 offices around the world.
Wachovia operates more than 125 financial centers in South Carolina and is a major employer throughout the state, supporting more than 1,300 jobs in the Midlands, nearly 500 in the Greenville-Spartanburg area, and more than 400 in the Charleston area.
February 2006