The 34th Annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Conference

I am honored to welcome you to the 34th Annual Whitney M. Young, Jr. Memorial Conference hosted by the African American MBA Association at Penn�s Wharton School.

Whitney Young�s gifted leadership helped to place the American dream truly within the reach of African-Americans. As head of the Urban League, he worked both with government and the private sector to develop job-training programs and to improve access to higher education. In the words of President Richard Nixon, Whitney Young �knew how to accomplish what other people were merely for.�

We at Penn are particularly honored that an extraordinarily talented Penn alumnus, Marc Morial (C�80), the former mayor of New Orleans, is building on Whitney Young�s legacy by contributing his own brand of effective leadership to lead the Urban League forward in this new century.

As members of a new generation of African-American students, you are receiving the best business education that our institutions of higher education have to offer. With your MBA, you, too, will go forth and assume leadership positions throughout our society. Working together, you can achieve dramatic results. I hope this year�s conference, entitled �Connecting and Developing Dynamic Leadership,� will strengthen your commitment to begin making a difference now.

I wish you good luck and great prosperity. Most of all, I encourage you to follow Whitney Young's inspiring example and devote your own talents toward accomplishing for those in need �what other people were merely for.�

Sincerely,

Amy Gutmann