A select group of Fordham business undergraduates will travel to Washington, D.C. on Jan. 27 to attend a symposium on the issues facing American business.
“The Varying Perspectives of the Financial Services Industry” will include talks by politicians, regulators, executives and lobbyists. Speakers include congressmen Anh Cao (R-LA) and Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), as well as Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
“Although the economy has stabilized, preventing history from repeating itself is in the hands our students, who are tomorrow’s business leaders,” said Donna Rapaccioli, Ph.D., dean of the College of Business Administration (CBA). “It is essential for our students to understand how they can contribute to the changing business environment. As the role of government expands, familiarity with how Washington works will be necessary for successful leadership.”
Students will visit various Washington, D.C. locations, including the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill and the Department of Treasury.
The daylong event was the brainchild of John Doscas (CBA ’80), co-founder of Hudson Bay Capital.
“We are in the midst of a dynamic time in which there could be regulatory changes that affect the financial services industry, where most of these students are hoping to get jobs,” Doscas said. “The focus of this program is to bring the students to D.C., where they can meet our elected officials and regulators who are making decisions on some of this public policy.”
Doscas, who has more than 30 years of experience on Wall Street, worked with Rapaccioli and others to gather an array of top speakers who will address topics such as ethics and governmental regulations.
“Throughout my career, I’ve worked with and hired recent graduates. Although they have been very talented for the most part, they typically have no understanding of how to operate in the business world, which is very dog-eat-dog,” he said. “Ethics isn’t really a part of most business programs, so it will be great to have these 50 or so undergraduates immerse themselves in this type of discussion.”
The event is co-sponsored with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a nonpartisan institute for advanced study.
