SMU Cox School of Business is home to several student-run organizations championing diversity and inclusion. As the Cox School celebrates 100 years of business education at SMU, it also celebrates the people who make the Cox Community so special — the students themselves. Here, student leaders from 11 Cox graduate and undergraduate groups share how their groups are creating spaces and fostering understanding, opportunities and support in the Cox community — serving as true Allies for Cox and for their fellow students.
Capt. Austin Caroe
Veterans in Business Club
MBA ’21 candidate
As president, Caroe is tasked with growing Veterans in Business, which existed only in name last year. Caroe, who has served nine years as a captain in the U.S. Army, hopes to build a network to support Cox veterans professionally and personally. His proactive approach includes connecting with veterans before they set foot on campus. “Many veterans are overwhelmed in the transition to the private sector and don’t know where to start,” Caroe says. “Many veterans do not like to ask for help if they are struggling. One of the biggest things we do […] is monitor how our members are doing by routinely checking in with them and helping them build bonds with each other.” The association’s five-year plan includes having members at all of Dallas-Fort Worth’s major companies, securing a “ready-made network.”
Anna Cho
Association of Latino Professionals for America (ALPFA)
BBA ’20
After attending an ALPFA meeting during her sophomore year, Cho knew she wanted to get involved. “I fell in love with the diversity of this club,” she says. “There were executive board members from all different backgrounds with different majors and experiences, and I was eager to become involved in such a different, diverse organization.” In addition to forging beneficial partnerships with Fortune 500 companies such as Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and AT&T, the association helps members expand their soft skills, “which is critical for the business education at Cox,” Cho says. “We try to help students in ALPFA get to the place that they want to be.” She says diversity within corporate America brings growth, challenges and changes. “New hires who come from different backgrounds and viewpoints help challenge the way traditional processes and policies are run,” says Cho.
Sarah D’Souza
International Business Club
MBA ’21 candidate
The International Business Club is viewed by many as a social club — as “a way for international business school students to become comfortable in their new surroundings and form a core group of friends,” D’Souza says. But it’s more than that. “Although this year may prove to be difficult, I think it is more important than ever to connect with students, international or not.” D’Souza says the group’s network can prove indispensable to Cox students wanting to explore working abroad. “The alums who were active in the International Business Club may also be a useful tool for the new members, understanding the work opportunities available for international students,” she says. The International Business Club aims to promote a deeper understanding of the cultures students will experience. “Having worked internationally for most of my professional life before coming to Cox, I can tell you firsthand that through engagement and experiencing other cultures, cultural stereotypes are destroyed, and people can learn.”
Sam Garrott
Pride@Cox
MA/MBA ’21 candidate
Inclusivity, empowerment and connection are at the heart of Pride@Cox. Garrott says the organization builds and upholds community, activism opportunities and a powerful network for its members. “LGBTQ+ people, historically, have had to balance their desire to be their authentic selves with a need to conform to workplace or educational norms,” Garrott says. “[We] believe that, in 2020, we can do both. By introducing students to LGBTQ+ leaders from all industries and functions, we help them to see themselves in the C-suite — with pride, not fear. Engaging with all members of the diverse Cox graduate population prepares students to make their future workplaces more representative, just and impactful,” he says. As an extension of Pride@Cox, Garrott is helping build upon Cox “firsts” as the school’s inaugural fellow for Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA), a national organization that helps increase the LGBTQ+ community’s influence in business.
Julia Hosch
Graduate Women in Business (GWiB)
MA/MBA ’21 candidate
Hosch was initially drawn to GWiB’s critical events (such as a salary-negotiation seminar), but she stuck around for the curated “community of women across Cox programs,” she says. “I really appreciated the space for friendship and camaraderie.” It’s a feeling she wants the group to sustain and grow, while helping members build lifelong professional and personal relationships along the way. GWiB serves Cox students by providing access to a strong network of female business leaders, “including personal, meaningful exposure to top female executives;” creating professional development opportunities; and sharing resources and strategies that help promote workplace diversity, equity and inclusion. “When GWiB members leave Cox and join their next companies (or launch their own), we hope that they’ll be able to lean on their GWiB professional development training and network to bring stronger, smarter and more diverse perspectives to their next role,” Hosch says.
Marina Leventis
BBA Women in Business
BBA ’21 candidate
As founding president, Leventis wants the group to establish an alliance with undergraduates — particularly women — by providing tools and strategies for future success. That includes offering insight, advice and community to its members. “We are a safe space for people to ask questions that they otherwise might not feel comfortable asking,” she says. A primary goal for the young organization is connecting its members with like-minded peers and influential business leaders by offering networking opportunities with “other women in a space designed to cater specifically to women.” To Leventis, physical and ideological diversity are important for every workplace. “The best work is work that reflects an array of perspectives and presents a compromise rather than an extreme point of view,” she says.
Rachel Levitt
Net Impact
MBA ’21 candidate
For Levitt, the decision to join Net Impact was simple: “The organization’s mission to build a more just and sustainable world perfectly aligns with my lifelong personal goal of ‘tikkun olam,’ the Jewish phrase meaning ‘repairing the world.’” Levitt believes future business leaders can drive tangible change through their chosen careers, and Net Impact helps build and empower those endeavors. “Corporate social responsibility is more relevant now than ever before,” she says. “Regardless of their concentration and career goals, the future business leaders at Cox will benefit from being challenged to consider the social and environmental impact of their decisions.”
Bianca Lilavois
Black Graduate Student Association (BGSA)
MBA ’21 candidate
Inclusion, fellowship and warmth led Lilavois to the BGSA. At a club fair last fall, “I met second-year students who made me feel welcome in the Cox community,” she says. “BGSA serves as an ally to Cox students who join by being a social support network for minority students in various master’s programs at Cox,” Lilavois says. The group coordinates events featuring select alumni, as well as business and community leaders from various industries. Through its members, the club hopes to be a foundation for a more inclusive workforce. “As globalization becomes an increasing reality in our lives, the workforce has changed to reflect that reality,” Lilavois says. “The ability to work with people from other walks of life is essential to be a successful leader in any business setting.”
Vicki Liu
Ascend Pan-Asian Leaders
BBA ’21 candidate
Ascend helps promote cultural diversity within Cox while helping future Pan-Asian business leaders develop professionally and personally through educational enrichment, community and professional conversations. But the focus goes beyond the classroom and future boardroom. “I joined Ascend to lead a major minority organization at Cox and to empower Pan-Asian students to break stereotypes about Pan-Asians in the local community,” Liu says. As North America’s largest nonprofit Pan-Asian organization for business professionals, Ascend connects students, exposes them to cultural diversity and opens dialogues about race and career. “By joining Ascend, BBA students will learn to apply soft and hard skills, such as communications, critical thinking, problem solving, interpersonal and leadership skills [to future workplaces],” Liu says. “Ascend members will bring their open mindset and diverse background to their future workplace with their business acumen and readiness to take action.”
Stacy Tubonemi
National Association of Black Accountants (NABA)
MBA ’21 candidate
When Tubonemi returned to Cox for her MBA, she made it a priority to help revive NABA, a circle that had given her so much as an undergraduate. The chapter had experienced a few years of low activity, says Tubonemi, who graduated in 2016. Tubonemi knows firsthand how important organizations like NABA are to their members — they help ensure that minority students have a presence and a voice. “One of the things that kept me going in the business school was having an organization or group of people that I could relate to,” Tubonemi says of her undergraduate experience. The group’s small size allows one- on-one connections between leadership and members. NABA takes a solutions-oriented approach to these connections, asking members about their experiences and challenges at SMU — all in an effort to help them have the best collegiate experience possible and foster the skills and self-assurance needed to transition from student to professional.
Nerza Zambrano
Latino Business Club
MBA ’21 candidate
While the Latino Business Club is focused on the advancement of the Cox Latino business community, people from all races and nationalities are welcome, Zambrano says. It’s an ideal association for Cox students who are looking for ways to bond with classmates while getting involved on campus. “We also host events in which students have the opportunity to develop connections with local companies,” Zambrano says. The Latino Business Club aims to connect Cox’s international and domestic students. “By bringing together students from different countries, we give club members the chance to network and develop connections that will be helpful not only during their time at SMU but also in their professional career,” Zambrano says. “Diversity is essential in the workplace because it sparks creativity and innovation. We need people with different backgrounds to bring their differing opinions and ideas to the table.”
Nominate a Cox 100 Ally at smu.edu/cox/cox-100.
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