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Christopher Haight ’09 has received the Simon Early Leaders Award to begin the MBA program at the Simon Graduate School of Business at the University of Rochester. Haight, who is the first graduate from Lafayette’s policy studies program, will receive $10,000 for each of the two years of the MBA program at the Simon School, which is among the top 20 graduate business schools in the nation.
The award allows qualified, recently graduated students with a bachelor’s degree to apply directly to the MBA program. Typically, MBA programs prefer to admit students who have been in the workforce for a few years. However, the program recognizes that leadership potential and skills are not necessarily a direct result of age or minimum years of experience.
Because Lafayette has a direct admission partnership with the Simon School, Haight was eligible for priority admission consideration, special merit scholarship consideration, and a waived application fee. Representatives from the Simon School visit Lafayette to meet with interested students and faculty advisers twice a year. This direct admission partnership has been in place since 2006, according to Mark Crain, Simon Professor of Political Economy and chair of policy studies, who helps coordinate the program with admissions representatives at the Simon School.
Haight believes his undergraduate experience at Lafayette helped prepare him for graduate school. He was heavily involved with student activism concerning the genocide in Darfur and helped produce and film the video “Darfur: the World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis.” He also organized campus rallies, discussions, and fundraisers through Lafayette’s chapter of Amnesty International and founded the Policy in Action club. He is the recipient of Lafayette’s 2008 Caine Scholars Award in Global Leadership, Business, and Policy, which paid for an internship with the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. Haight also served as an election results analyst during the College’s student-run, live election-night television broadcast.
“I think a positive, encouraging support system was the premium advantage afforded to me by Lafayette,” Haight says. “The support network includes faculty, fellow students, and alumni. During my time at Lafayette, I was fortunate enough to work closely with my academic adviser, Professor Crain, esteemed alumni such as Chris Caine ’78 and Peter Jacoby ’81, and highly talented and motivated peers – all of whom helped make my own success and achievements possible.”
He plans to pursue a career in public policy and nonprofit work. He also is interested in politics and would like to work on a national or statewide campaign.