Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/56535
From the Editors Sunscreen and Sustainability Chicago Tribune columnist Mary Schmich penned what is possibly the most famous message to college graduates ever written. Her June 1997 column, which she describes as an imagined com- mencement address to that year's graduating class, begins and ends with this piece of advice: "Wear sunscreen." Humorous as it was, her advice acknowledged that those young, fresh-faced 22-year- olds wouldn't stay young and fresh-faced forever. "You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded," she wrote. In that col- umn, which became the basis for a popular song and a book, Schmich entreated that generation to act on their power now, while they still possessed it. She told them to sing, dance, travel—essentially to be an integral part of the world. If Schmich were to write a similar column targeted to today's busi- ness school graduates, I think she might include slightly more urgent messages: Volunteer, she might say. Be honest. Leave the world better than you found it. And, for heaven's sake, don't bet the economy on strategies you don't fully understand. Most of today's business students would be more than willing to heed this call. Student demand for courses in social enterprise is trend- ing higher and higher. A recent survey from the Aspen Institute found that 88 percent of business students believe that for-profit companies should do more to address social and environmental problems, and 71 percent believe that socially responsible business practices lead to greater profits. In this issue, we have articles by two people tracking these trends closely. In "Toward Sustainable Change," Judith Samuelson, executive director of the Business and Society Program at the Aspen Institute, calls for business schools to teach all students skills in sustainability, whether they plan to work for nonprofits, small startups, or interna- tional corporations. In "Converging on Green," Stuart Hart of Cornell University argues that business schools must prepare this generation of students to work in a world powered by renewable energy and advanced by innovative solutions. "Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life," Schmich wrote to the class of '97. That message actually may be less relevant to the class of 2009. Many so-called Millennials know they want to change the world—they just need the programs to teach them the strategies to do just that, in ways that support the long-term goals of their organizations. But in another regard, Schmich's treatise is as true today as it ever was. Given the problems students will face involving climate change and a thinning ozone layer, the sunscreen's probably still a good idea. ■ z 6 BizEd JULY/AUGUST 2009 MOODBOARD/PHOTOLIBRARY RAQUITA HENDERSON