The Mays Business School at Texas A&M University recently held their 2015 scholarship banquet, giving a crowd of roughly 700 people- including scholarship recipients as well as donors- the chance to get to know each other.
The event took place at the Hall of Champions at Kyle Field and featured a keynote address from Robert E. Jordan, the executive vice president and chief commercial officer of Southwest Airlines. Jordan, who received both his bachelor’s degree and MBA at Texas A&M University, spoke of the importance of generosity and the impact it can have on one’s life. During Jordan’s address, he encouraged the crowd to think of those who had had an impact on their life, and consider how they could have that same impact on others.
In addition to the address from Jordan, Dean Eli Jones was present to thank every donor who had attended the event. Thanks to their generosity, more than 1,700 scholarships from both individual and corporate donors were given to Mays students in 2014. Not only do scholarships help change the lives of students, the dean said, “but alumni giving is also a key indicator used to measure the quality of students, faculty and other resources of a university. It is a significant portion of the U.S. News & World Report overall ranking, and the support of our donors helps propel Texas A&M in the national rankings.”
The banquet also included the perspective of a scholarship recipient, student Layeeka Ismail. Ismail is currently enrolled in the Mays’ Professional Program, a program which results in a bachelor’s in accounting and MBA after just five years. Ismail thanked the donors for their investment, which had given her numerous opportunities such as the chance to study in Morocco and to intern with Deloitte in Houston. She will furthermore represent Mays in the BI Norwegian Business School International Case Competition. “Thank you for investing in us,” she said. “You are fulfilling our dreams.”