Tuck News and Events - At Tuck, Future CEOs Start With Community Service

At Tuck, future CEOs start with community service

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 17, 2006

HANOVER, N.H.—Before the country's future CEOs and business leaders begin their course work at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth this year, they will first spend some serious time serving their local community. All members of the class of 2008—approximately 240 students—will spend a full day of their Orientation week working for nonprofits in Vermont and New Hampshire, and over 60 students have applied for a special new weeklong preterm program that teaches them about the intersection of business and society through hands-on volunteer work and nightly guest speakers on the subject.

Because of strong student demand, two preterm service week groups are scheduled: one the week of Monday, August 14, and the second the week of Monday, August 21. The classwide Day of Service for the entire incoming class takes place on Wednesday, August 30.

"Tuck's tight-knit community has always set it apart from other top business schools, and these service projects give us a chance to strengthen those bonds and expand them beyond our campus," said Daniella Reichstetter, the second-year Tuck student leading this year's service project.

"Sweating side-by-side with your classmates creates instant ties. Working to help families in the Upper Valley connects us with the community we live in. And studying the intersection of business and society allows us to see how classes, internships, and future jobs impact our larger community as a whole."

The service program puts groups of students together to work with local chapters of Habitat for Humanity and COVER Home Repair, where they spend several days at sites in Lyme, N.H.; Grafton, N.H.; Wilder, Vt.; and Bethel, Vt. Each night, students eat dinner in an informal setting with faculty members, staff, and Tuck alumni who discuss their own community-involvement experiences. The program began last year at the suggestion of T'06 Jamesa Brown, who was inspired by Tuck's Day of Service and worked with staff at the school's Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship to develop a Habitat project for the following year. This year is the first time the program has been advertised to incoming students as a regular preterm option, and last year's pilot program has expanded into two weeklong sessions with approximately 15 students each.

The annual Day of Service places every incoming Tuck student with one of 25 different nonprofits or community groups in the area, including the Children's Center of the Upper Valley, City of Lebanon, Enfield Shaker Museum, Upper Valley Senior Center, Headrest, and more. At the end of their day of service, incoming students will have dinner with James Allwin T'76, chair of the board of advisors for the school's Allwin Initiative for Corporate Citizenship, who will reflect on his community-involvement experiences and the importance of responsible, engaged business leadership. Allwin is chief executive officer of AEA Holdings, an entity created in early 2005 from the combination of Aetos Capital and AEA Investors that manages over $9.5 billion of funds from some of the world's most influential institutional investors and business executives. Allwin also chairs the board of directors for Communities in Schools Inc., the nation's largest stay-in-school program, as well as numerous other nonprofits.

"Service prepares our students to be engaged in the communities where they will operate as business leaders," said Pat Palmiotto, director of the Allwin Initiative. "Together with some unique courses and extracurricular projects, these service programs ensure that our students start their Tuck experience by learning what they have to contribute personally and what businesses can give the world."

Throughout the year, Tuck students are also involved in the nonprofit community outside the classroom through individual volunteerism, the Tuck Student Consulting Services organization, and the Tuck Board Fellows Program. Tuck Student Consulting Services is a consulting service for local nonprofits, small businesses, and entrepreneurs that is staffed and managed by students. The Tuck Board Fellows Program pairs students with participating nonprofit agencies as nonvoting members of their boards; students currently serve on the boards of 13 local organizations.

Founded in 1900, Tuck is the first graduate school of management and consistently ranks among the top business schools worldwide.