EXECUTIVE EDUCATION

SMU Cox and Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children have just extended their relationship.

This month, SMU Cox Executive Education hosted the annual fall conference of the international University Consortium for Executive Education, and instead of giving the usual souvenir conference mementos, the group decided to do something a little different. They gave out teddy bears. 

Working with retailers JCPenney and Build a Bear, SMU Cox acquired more than 200 stuffed bears.  Conference attendees could take the bears home or leave them behind as a donation to the hospital, which treats children across the state for orthopedic conditions and learning disorders without charging a patient family or billing insurance.  The children at the hospital received virtually all 200 teddy bears when the conference was over. 

Conference attendees said that donating the bears to the children was a more socially responsible use of conference resources than a memento with limited use.

The SMU Cox relationship with the children’s hospital began in 2004 and includes MBA consulting projects and collaboration on the White Rock Lake Marathon.  The MBA projects not only give students a glimpse into the escalating business of health care, but they instill a sense of servant leadership, exposing them to ways business leaders can utilize their skills to give back to the community.