The Macaulay Business Club (MBC) actively works to connect CUNY students to jobs and opportunities in the business field.
“It is important to teach people how to conduct themselves in the professional world as well as to introduce them to important connections,” said current Executive President Chandrapaul Latchman, who will be working for JP Morgan post-graduation.
MBC was founded in 2009 by a student named Dmitry Kucher, who is now a consultant at ENY. After his graduation, the club declined but made a comeback roughly two years ago. Now, the club is across five CUNY campuses, predominantly at Baruch. The Baruch chapter has over 30 active members and is open to all students, including those not in Macaulay.
“Our mission is to help all CUNY students,” said Latchman. “We do this by having events the students can attend, having a newsletter where students can talk about their opinions and opportunities, and we have corporate tours to show students what the field is like.”
Their most recent event was the first-ever Business Gala, which was held at the MHC building on Wednesday, March 25th. The event housed 20 professionals and approximately 40 club members. The event was split into three parts. The first part had a keynote speaker. The second part had three panels (one with MHC students, one with CUNY students, and one with professionals), and the third part gave students the opportunity to talk to and network with professionals individually. MBC hopes for the Business Gala to become an annual event.
The club feels that one of the strongest assets to success is networking so they want students to be open to these resources. According to Latchman, “Networking events shouldn’t be just ‘showed-up’ to…Everyone needs to know how to present themselves in order to maximize opportunities for success.” The night before the Business Gala, the MBC officials hosted a prep session for the dos and don’ts of the event. They went over the biographies of each professional attending the event and gave the students advice on how to conduct themselves.
Aside from the connections MBC makes by reaching out to businesses, the club acts as a platform for former Macaulay students to give back to the current students. MBC also pushes students to learn and be curious about what opportunities are out there, as well as provides them with the right tools to make an impression on companies. This includes emphasizing business opportunities outside of big banks to encourage all types of professions.
“We don’t like to push students in a certain direction; we just want to push them to be a certain type of person,” said Chandrapaul. “I’m extremely proud to be a part of this club and to have seen it grow. I hope it continues to be a strong push for students to make an impact.”
The club has future events coming up such as their Business Conference and “Don’t Be a Fool” event. More information on The Macaulay Business Club can be found here.
MBC is doing some awesome things to enhance the Macaulay Network. Great job!