By Mark Meaney
CESR Executive Director
The CESR Fellows had a very successful launch in September at its first networking event. We intend the program to link freshmen and sophomores to juniors and seniors in nurturing a community of commitment to CESR values. Students do not declare their intent to pursue a certificate in the Socially Responsible Enterprise (SRE) until their junior year. As a consequence, we have been challenged to engage freshmen and sophomore students in CESR programming. CESR Fellows creates an opportunity to inculcate a commitment to CESR values from the freshman year. The program will provide a context for interaction along the continuum of four years; in addition, junior alumni will also have the opportunity to directly engage students as mentors in sharing with them the value of the SRE certificate.
As a pilot program within Leeds for other Centers, we had anticipated attracting perhaps 10-15 students; instead, we had a positive response from well over 70 students, with close to 50 to date actually going through the online membership application process.
Dean Ikenberry opened the networking event with remarks on the vital role CESR plays within Leeds, as well as on the importance of the Leeds core values of ‘the whole student’ and ‘principled-value creation’. Following my remarks, Birdie Resnick provided students with an overview of the SRE certification. We had surveyed rising freshman about their interests. The majority indicated that environmental sustainability was of concern, followed by business ethics and poverty alleviation. As a result, Birdie was able to highlight the value of the SRE in light of these areas of interest.
Congratulations goes to Leigh Dodd for the excellent work she did in organizing the networking event as well as for building the CESR Fellows infrastructure. If you get a chance, please stop by to greet our new Students Programs Coordinator. She is an excellent addition to the team!