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Credit: Luis Valdez, Catholic Star Herald
Camden M.B.A. students and faculty dress
down to help repair the facilities at
St. Joseph’s Church, a historic Camden
landmark. The project is part of the
Good Works Initiative, a program
dedicated to providing service to
communities in need. Back row left to
right, Larry Ottenberg, student; Rich
Michel Felder, assistant professor of
management; Father Ed Lipinski, pastor
of St. Joseph’s; and Andrew Wendler,
maintenance manager at St. Joseph’s.
Front row left to right, Larry Gaines,
associate provost; Gayle Porter,
associate professor of management;
Kristin Walker, senior executive
assistant to the provost.
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Corporate responsibility is a hot topic in the business world, and the School of Business at Camden is leading by example through its Good Works Initiative, a program dedicated to the powerful notion of making a difference in communities both locally and globally.
The endeavor, launched last year, works in concert with Rutgers’ core mission of teaching, research and service, harnessing the business acumen and service commitment at the business school with a mandate to serve communities in need at home and afar.
One of the more ambitious – and rewarding – projects sponsored by the Good Works Initiative involves Rutgers-Camden’s ongoing relationship with South Africa, established by Rory “Cal” Maradonna, associate provost for development and a graduate of the business school. Through repeated visits, Rutgers professors and students observed the many challenges facing those who live in poverty and were determined to find ways to help.
Julie Ruth, an associate professor of marketing and founder of the Good Works Initiative, notes that a bond developed between Rutgers and South Africa. “There was always the feeling that we had learned so much, and been treated so graciously, that we wanted a way to express our gratitude,” Ruth says. During recent study trips to the Cape Town area, Rutgers students, faculty and staff visited the Kalksteenfontein Primary School and witnessed poverty’s impact on children’s lives. The Good Works Initiative elected to support the school, providing its library with 2,500 books collected from across southern New Jersey and Philadelphia.
Earlier this year, the Good Works Initiative donated 19 used computers from the Camden business school to benefit the children attending the Distinctions in Urban Education Season Charter School in Camden.
In addition, through the initiative, Camden master’s in business administration students and faculty worked on the repair of some of the historic facilities at St. Joseph’s Church in Camden’s Whitman Park neighborhood. According to Gayle Porter, an associate professor of management, the effort went a long way toward saving a cherished Camden community landmark. “This really was a labor of love,” Porter says. “In addition to preserving a spiritual and architectural community center, our students were able to see firsthand the impact of service upon their community.”
The students who worked at the church were members of Porter’s “Social Responsibility of Management” M.B.A. course in spring 2005. M.B.A. student Jessica Johnson, a development assistant at the Camden campus, says that the project complemented classroom work. “It showed us in real time what can be accomplished by one small group in a single day,” Johnson says. “If corporations had an ongoing program of service in their community, imagine what could be accomplished over several years.”
The Good Works Initiative also “adopts” a family for the holidays as part of the Camden Angels Project. “Since the needs of any community change on a regular basis, the initiative will always be a flexible work-in-progress, but we’re gratified by what we’ve accomplished so far and look forward to serving as a clearinghouse for other good works ideas,” Ruth says. Rutgers students will lead businesses and organizations in their own backyard and an ocean away, Ruth says. “It’s vitally important for us to prepare them for the global context of business along with embracing the learning and service opportunities locally.”
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