By GILLIAN TAM
At 7:00 p.m. on Friday, February 14, the School of Business held the first ever School of Business Gala celebrating the opening of the new Business school. The evening included an award ceremony celebrating the achievements and talents of certain students and faculty members, a glorious buffet of food, networking and the building of new connections, some terrific tunes created by Beloit College’s very own Mason Sorensen‘25, and a surprise appearance of none other than your neighborhood friendly spider man. From celebrating students’ hard work to meeting new people, this evening was one to remember.
As I was experiencing this incredible achievement, I wondered how the idea of a Gala introducing the School of Business came about. The head organizer of the event, Anna King‘27, filled me in. In the fall of 2024, Diep Phan, professor of Economics and Business at Beloit College, went up to Anna and Laurel Zolper‘27, both assistants at the School of Business, and informed them that the School of Business wanted to throw a gala to announce the opening of this new space. Both Anna and Laurel created a budget, events, and the idea for an award show and used that as a foundation for what the evening would look like. Later that fall, in November, Anna brought in help from the members of the Marketing Club and split them into different teams with an awards team, decorations team, music team, marketing team, and a food competition team.
When it came to the experiences students had at this event, one key phrase stands out: community and connection. Chyler Smith‘28, one of the gala guests, beautifully touched on some of the interactions she had with other student attendees: “It was really nice connecting with the people at my table. It gave me an opportunity to [gain] insight into different students, different majors and different goals and why they came to this event as well.” She also mentioned the surprising array of diversity regarding the academic backgrounds of attendees: “It’s not like everyone was strictly business…which is great because in a liberal arts kind of place, you want to hear different sides of the coin.”
Another aspect of the event that made an impression on students was the award ceremony. Ella Walters‘27, another gala guest, spoke about how the level of attention placed upon the Marketing department through being given not one but three awards impacted her: “It actually kind of made me interested in looking into that course, especially seeing and feedback and support from students being like this course is really cool. It’s always nice to have courses on your radar because at Beloit, you can kind of [get] fixed into your niche area department.”
The surprise appearance of none other than the iconic Spider-Man was definitely another memorable moment among attendees. It sparked a lot of curiosity and speculation as to the true identity of Spider-Man as well as if this was actually a “surprise” appearance or if there was an intentionality behind this occurrence. Smith commented on the following speculations: “If that was a ploy and got people talking after the award ceremony was done, it was interesting. Got a couple of chuckles. It kept the audience a little bit captivated. I’m 98% sure that he was there intentionally. That’s a great way to get some word of mouth about an event and make it memorable.”
Despite the success of the evening, there were quite a few challenges throughout the course of the event. According to King, after the awards ceremony, there was some confusion among guests in terms of what would happen next. Smith spoke to this issue: “I wish the event was structured better. Maybe we start right away so there’s more time at the end for those who have to leave, like alumni who are coming from different cities. So there could be more of an opportunity to mingle and talk.” King admits the planning committee could’ve organized more activities or created a set dancing space. “I definitely think that’s something we’ll fix in the future,” King states.
Due to a miscommunication error in terms of whether networking was one of the main focuses of the event, there was some confusion and disappointment among students who actively intended to network with fellow alumni and faculty who attended the event. Smith felt like the focus was primarily on the awards ceremony when she went into the event, thinking there would be a set time to network and wishing there was more time for networking.
She also mentioned how a lack of familiarity with alumni and professors created some hurdles when trying to go up and interact with attendees. “There were a lot of people at the event that just weren’t introduced. I didn’t know if [attendees] were professors or if they were alumni, so I didn’t know who to go up to. When you have alumni coming to an event, that’s great, but you want to make those connections, and it’s really hard when there isn’t a bridge to gap.” When I later interviewed King about this issue, her response revealed a communication error when it came to promoting the event to fellow students. She explained that while the marketing efforts were geared somewhat towards advertising the event as a networking opportunity, the focus wasn’t put primarily on this element.
When it comes to the goals of the future of the School of Business, King hopes to see growth not just in terms of the number of students and alumni but also in terms of expanding the School of Business alumni network. She hopes to see the School of Business grow beyond the Finance and Marketing sectors to include other niche business-related departments. She also wants there to be more collaboration between the School of Business and other schools such as the School of Media & Arts and the School of Environmental Science. “There’s so much opportunity and crossovers that they could do so many amazing things,” King States. According to Walters, through the existence of the School of Business Gala, the school is already on their way towards growth: “I think in these kinds of moments when we have to create an event…that is how you create a body. That’s how you create an entity. That’s how you create a business in the first place.”
Regarding acknowledging the people who helped make the gala happen in the first place, King states, “The event couldn’t have happened without the support of Professor Phan, the School of Business, and also the Marketing Club. CELEB was a generous donor in the funding for this event.”
Featured Image: Alex Atou’25
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