Class of 2009: Dalnews profiles some of the 2,700 graduates who'll walk across the stage of the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium during Spring Convocation, May 19 to 27.
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| Matt White |
The worst global financial crisis since the great depression underscores the need for corporate social responsibility as a fundamental part of business education. Long before the current global crisis, the topic of business ethics fascinated Matt White.
Mr. White, who is graduating from the Bachelor of Management program, was so interested that he organized and led an annual workshop for North American business students.
The Dalhousie Business Ethics Case Competition was a three-day event that took place in November of 2008 and involved teams from eight schools across Canada and the U.S. It was the only business ethics case competition in North America.
“It was a competition, but more importantly, it was a learning experience for all of us. We got to know each other, and we learned from many different perspectives on ethical decision making in the business context. It was an amazing event.”
Originally from Kingston, Ont., the business student rounded out his academic success by taking on a leadership role in several extracurricular activities. In addition to the competition, his experience as head race coach for the Kingston Yacht Club inspired him to help create Dalhousie’s first-ever sailing team. Both the annual business case competition and the sailing team will continue on after Mr. White leaves, something he is pleased about.
“If I didn’t have my extracurricular activities while at Dal, my experience would have been very different,” he says. While he’s excited about the future, he says there is a lot he’ll miss about Dal. “Every class I took, I enjoyed. Every professor I had was inspirational to me. I chose my classes to have as diverse an experience as possible, and I got that.”