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6 | THE MAROON TIGER
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 2\, 2003
Life
T he traditional focus of the Business
Department has been to prepare men
of Morehouse for successful careers
in corporate America. Is this goal, however,
consistent with the college's mission to mould
leaders not only in the African-American
community, but in society at large? In recent
years there has been a surging awareness of
the importance of small black-owned
businesses—and the increasing the lack
thereof.
The black community earns close to $950
billion each year. Ninety-five percent of that
money, however, is spent outside of the Black
community.
Most African American scholars and
community leaders believe that black-owned
businesses are a necessary component for the
advancement of the race as a whole. With this
in mind, should the curriculum of Morehouse’s
business department be revamped to produce
a new kind of leader?
For several years, the business department
has been preparing its students for careers in
financial institutions such as banks, accounting
firms, the Federal Reserve, and in government
accounting and statistics. Other students have
pursued employment in quasi-financial
institutions, such as Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac,
and HUD, or in personal practices, such as
private businesses or private accounting.
Interestingly enough, one of the main shaping
factors in maintaining the curriculum’s focus
on corporate America has historically been
student interest: the idea of a suit and tie, a
briefcase and a desk on Wall Street were
traditionally particularly enticing. Recently,
however, small waves of change have been
sweeping through the department.
Kareem Hall, a junior marketing major,
said that the business department is effective
in what it tries to do, though he added, “I feel it
should stress entrepreneurship more.”
Currently, there is one course in the curriculum
(HBUS 453: Entrepreneurship) that caters to
those who wish to establish their own business;
those with aspirations in this vein, for the most
part, gather information from the general
curriculum and apply it to a non-corporate
situation.
“Each class,” continued Hall, “teaches
you a lot of ideas and facts about corporate
America and the business world and different
business principles to help you be successful.
You have to take the curriculum as a whole,
draw upon all of the information, to get
entrepreneurial perspective on how to be
successful in your own business.” Several
students agreed that perhaps there needs to be
a separate concentration for students primarily
i nterested in starting their own business, so that
they may better tailor the information to their
occupational goals.
The Business department has heard the
concern of its students and is looking at
enhancing the entrepreneurship aspect of its
curriculum. The department, however, does not
believe that students should seek to open their
own businesses immediately upon graduation.
Dr. John Williams, dean of the Division
of Business and Economics, explained: “Most
successful entrepreneurs go on to corporate
America, obtain their MBA, return to corporate
America, and when seasoned, they have
Please see BUSINESS, page 8
By George Shelton
PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY ASHTON DUNN/MAROON TIGER