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The College of Business offers more than $250,000 of annual scholarship support for our talented students. |
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| Message from Dean Paul Jarley |
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Excerpt taken from Dean Paul Jarley's remarks at the Nevada Business Hall of Fame, February 19, 2009
This is the part of the evening normally reserved for the Dean of the College of Business to stand up and tell you about some of the great things that are going on in the College. But there are much larger things at stake here in Nevada.
You have heard and read much about our dire economy and budget shortfalls, tuition hikes and state appropriations, funding formulas and administrator salaries. All relevant, Im sure. But I want to take you in a different direction tonight as our community continues to debate the future of higher education in Nevada. Indulge me for a moment while I tell you the stories of a few outstanding people
Jesus Valdez. Like me, Jesus is a first generation college student whose family sacrificed much for his higher education. Born and raised in Mexico, Jesus is an MGM Mirage Family Scholarship Program recipient who balances a heavy course load with a job in the College of Business Undergraduate Advising Office. After graduation, Jesus is shooting for his dream to be CEO of a large firm like Deloitte & Touche. Honestly, Jesus is unstoppable! World beware.
Amanda Ireland, like Jesus is an immigrant to the U.S coming from New Zealand. A former journalist and public relations executive, Amanda has a passion for both her family and economics. After graduation, she would love to take her education further to become a professor or a consultant on public policy issues.
These young students follow in the footsteps of several highly successful UNLV graduates. Graduates like
Saundra Moody Johnson, as a CPA and Vistage Chair, leads groups of business owners and executives, focusing on leadership, performance results and personnel development. Sandy credits her experiences at UNLV for her passion and success in the business world, and prides herself on gaining the skills for her career in the College of Business.
Mahesh Odhrani is a financial advisor and brokerage manager with Wealth Strategies Group, Mahesh was born in India and raised in Dubai. He moved to Las Vegas in 1999 and is an active member of the College Alumni Association and the Southern Nevada Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors. Mahesh could live anywhere and do anything, but he has chosen to be a vital part of this community.
Finally, let me introduce you to Dr. Keah-Choon Tan. He is the UNLV teacher of the year and our nominee for the NSHE teacher of the year. An accomplished scholar, Dr. Tans students win case competition and publish papers on their way to masters degrees. He has figured out a way to make supply chain management interesting and I am told that students literally chase him down the hall.
I am not here to tell you that we must support higher education or the dreams of these fine people will die. Frankly, Jesus, Amanda and Dr. Tan will do just fine thank you very much..with or without a vital system of higher education here in Nevada. That is because smart, talented, motivated people will go to where opportunity beckons. The stories I shared with you tonight and so many more that can be found at UNLV validate this truism over and over again. If you dont believe me, talk to a couple of the many students who are here tonight.
The question is not whether these folks will succeed, but where they will succeed and who will share in their prosperity. The people who built this great city and who we honor tonight understood this.they built a unique place of enormous opportunity in the middle of nowhere and people flocked to it. The students, alumni and faculty I introduced you to tonight all came here because Las Vegas provided better opportunities than they could find elsewhere.
You see it is not that Mahesh and Sandy need Nevada; it is that Nevada needs Mahesh and Sandy.
And, I know that my success depends most critically on surrounding myself with great people and giving them the tools they need to get the job done. Their success is my success. If they go in search of better opportunity, I will surely follow.
There is a well-known bumper sticker that says: "if you want peace, work for justice." If you want prosperity, invest in opportunity. Talent will invariably follow and Nevada will thrive.
It is that simple.
In these hard economic times that hearken back to some of our darkest days, perhaps it is worth remembering the words of the leader who had the courage to see us through that crisis.
FDR died in Georgia in 1945 while sitting for a portrait and writing a speech. The last words he wrote, just before he collapsed complaining of a headache were these:
"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith."
In other words, the future you see becomes the future you get.
If the State doesnt have the vision and will to find a way to bring opportunity to Nevada through higher education, give us the tools to do it ourselves. Scrap formula funding. Give us control over our revenues and let us respond to the voice of the customer just like everyone else in this room. Markets work. Value creation generates opportunity. And a talented, committed group of Rebels will get this job done.
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