Left to right: Gin Gin Bruce Scott, unknown, Jayne Booker, Betsy Miller-Jones, John Schaeffer, Norman Hoffman, Jim Bailey, Fitz Hudson, and
Tom Scott.
When asked how the MBA program shaped them, the answers
vary but still point to a common theme — the importance of
friendship and working together. There is certainly no shortage
for success and drive in the group, either. Davenport says the
program taught her “how to put together a business plan and
take it to a financial institution to get (funding).” As a student at
UNC Chapel Hill, she constructed a plan for an elective course,
choosing to create a “frog-farming” business. Known as “The
Frog Lady,” her skills and creativity did not go unnoticed — her
professor has since used her strategy and creativity in his own
classes. Mitzi Cheever moved to New York City after graduat-ing
from the MBA program to work for Chemical Bank, and
then lived in London for several years to continue working in
the banking industry. Stuart Phoenix reflects on how the MBA
program taught him to “try to understand people better,” refer-encing
an international comparative management course taught
by professor Jack Behrman in which he learned about the myriad
business perspectives of different countries.
“Instead of living in silence, we learned to work together
… if one succeeds, then everybody succeeds,” states Clayton
Duncan, who served as the MBA ’80 class president. He con-firms,
“Working together — that’s what distinguishes this
class.” Gin-Gin elaborates, “We had so many mentoring fac-ulty”
that helped and supported the class throughout the pro-gram.
Ramsay recalls how even the dean of the Business School,
Jack Evans, and his wife, Pat, came to Wrightsville Beach for a
couple of the gatherings over the years to
visit with his students and play bas-ketball.
This intimate relationship
between the students and faculty
highlights the close connection
maintained among the group.
Duffy Hickey agrees that, for
him, the most impressionable
part of the MBA program was the
friends he made. “That’s why com-ing
here is important.” Ultimately, the
L A B O R D A Y R E U N I O N
40th ANNIVERSARY
WRIGHTS V I L L E BEACH
stress and workload of school made the
vacations that much more rewarding. Hickey
muses, “Anything you want to do (in life) involves grow-ing,
stretching and challenging yourself. You have to stretch, be
uncomfortable and challenge yourself some more, and that’s how
we get better.” The MBA program at UNC Chapel Hill, coupled
with their annual beach tradition, provided a unique opportunity
for this group of men and women to not only succeed as individu-als
but to form lasting friendships.
As the sun sinks below the horizon, Ramsay takes time to
reflect, noting how their inaugural trip made them “realize we
could do this after the stress of school.” Describing the experience
as “cathartic,” he reinforces the fellowship this group enjoys, con-firming
that Wrightsville Beach possesses “a sense of home to us …
(which) no one ever articulated…it just became that.”
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