April 14, 2025
Arthur Graduate School students network with Chicago alumni
East Carolina University College of Business students in the Arthur Graduate School’s Immersive MBA (IMBA) program recently returned from a four-day spring break trip to Chicago. They met with alumni, experienced the city and grew as business leaders.
“The IMBA spring break trip to Chicago was a great opportunity for students to interact with successful ECU alumni and get a firsthand look at businesses in the area,” said Dr. Linda Quick, assistant dean of the Arthur Graduate School. “Students were able to hear from alumni in industries like finance, private equity, supply chain, and data analytics, and saw everything from an Amazon warehouse in action to a firm in downtown Chicago to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Thank you to all of the alumni (John May, Lauren Frey, Malcolm Ellis and Sydney Williams) as well as the anonymous donor who made this trip possible.”
The Chicago trip continues a trend of ECU COB alums giving back to current students. In October 2023, over 20 COB graduate and undergraduate students went to New York City, where they were exposed to different business environments outside of North Carolina and met with five ECU alums, giving them extensive networking opportunities.
Following that successful trip, a group of 18 students made their way to the Silicon Valley in May 2024 thanks to the support of generous alums. The students had the opportunity to meet with visionary companies such as Cisco, Parthenon Capital, Zoom, Google and Databricks as well as ECU alumni who are industry professionals.
For COB Dean Mike Harris, the interaction between the alumni and the 14 students was a highlight of the trip.
“I love seeing the students interact with the alumni,” he said. “They ask great questions, and you can see how they start to make connections from the classroom to how it applies in the business world.”
After a Saturday evening arrival, on Sunday the group took the red line L train to Wrigley Field just as legions of Cubs fans have done over the years and took a tour of the facility. On Monday, the group spent time with Sydney Williams. Williams graduated from ECU with a bachelor’s in public health in 2021 and worked for a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., before earning her master’s in public policy from the University of Chicago. Williams currently works in data analytics; she shared how she got into that field and discussed her previous work experience in health care management and with a nonprofit. A group dinner at a Chicago deep dish pizza restaurant wrapped up the day.
Getting to know her classmates while networking and exploring a new city is something that immersive MBA student Sarah Ragsdale couldn’t pass up.
“The trip was an opportunity I couldn’t miss,” said Ragsdale. “It was a great chance to bond with my cohort outside of the classroom and outside of Greenville. It also provided the chance to network with ECU alumni and explore a new city, making the experience even more valuable.”
A busy Tuesday started with a visit to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, followed by a trip to an Amazon facility coordinated by 2019 COB alum Malcolm Ellis. Ellis, who works as an operations manager, guided the current students through the facility, where they learned how the company handles logistics and packaging before a question-and-answer session.
That afternoon, they visited with John May, a 1993 ECU COB alum who is one of the founding partners of private equity firm Core Industrial Partners. May and three of his associates talked about their early career experiences and how to get into the private equity field.
Meeting May and learning more about private equity was an impactful moment for immersive MBA student Emma Gebel.
“I’ve been curious about private equity for a while and hearing Mr. May speak so candidly about his journey was incredibly powerful,” she said. “His clarity, discipline and long-term vision really stood out. It reminded me that where you start matters far less than the values, drive and resilience you bring to your path. That conversation gave me a new level of focus.”
Before their flight home on Wednesday, the students had lunch along with a question-and-answer session with 2019 COB graduate Lauren Frey. Frey works for JP Morgan Chase as a senior client service associate and shared how classroom experiences at ECU translate into the real world as well as the ups and downs of her career journey.
Ragsdale found the time spent with Frey and her message to be one of her biggest trip takeaways.
“She shared her career journey, including early struggles, which was incredibly inspiring,” said Ragsdale. “It was great to hear such an authentic experience and realize that facing setbacks is normal and okay. I felt motivated by her current success despite those challenges, and it reminded me that perseverance is key to overcoming obstacles in our careers.”
Quick said these professional experiences gives students a chance to see what’s possible.
“It allows them to see some opportunities that exist in a big metropolitan area,” said Quick. “They met with highly successful ECU alums and saw great examples of how far an ECU degree can take them.”
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