By Ken Gewertz

Gazette Staff

The African American Student Union (AASU) of the Harvard Business School held its 25th annual conference last week.

The quarter-century mark provided the ideal standpoint for both looking back and looking ahead.

"It was a wonderfully successful conference. It not only gave us an opportunity to look back over the last 25 years and celebrate what has been achieved, but it was also an opportunity to think about the future and for the students and the alumni to recommit to one another," said AASU President Beverly Anderson.

The theme of this year's conference, held Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at the Boston Marriott Copley Place Hotel, was "Our Silver Past and Golden Future." In planning the conference, AASU members made a special effort to recognize the achievements of alumni and to express appreciation for helping younger African Americans advance through the corporate hierarchy.

"We don't always get the opportunity to say thank you, but I think after this conference many of the alumni walked away thinking, 'Hey, this conference was for me. These people recognize my contribution.' It was a very warm family feeling," said Anderson.

Founded by members of the Class of 1969 in a turbulent era that saw the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. as well as the appointment of Thurgood Marshall as the first African-American Supreme Court justice, the AASU has grown steadily since its hopeful beginnings.

Not only has it succeeded in building a better network to serve the needs of African Americans in the business environment, but it has also created structures to smooth the way for African Americans at every step along the M.B.A. trail and beyond.

The organization has not only proved successful in helping graduates find jobs and advance their careers, it has also served as an effective recruiting tool for the School.

"I experienced the conference last year as a prospective student," said first-year M.B.A. student Marc Tatum. "It had a major impact on my decision to come here because it showed me the power of the Business School in terms of its networks."

The conference offered an impressive roster of speakers, including many of the most powerful and influential African Americans in the business world. Among them were: Earl G. Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine; Robert Holland, former president and CEO of Ben & Jerry's; W. Don Cornwell, chairman and CEO of Granite Broadcasting Corp.; and Loida N. Lewis, chairperson and CEO of TLC Beatrice International Inc.; Robert L. Johnson, chairman and CEO of Bet Holdings Inc.; and Dr. Roy Keith and Joyce M. Roché, chairman and president, respectively, of Carson Products Co.

The conference also offered many panels, workshops, and seminars on issues facing African Americans in today's business environment. These included such topics as the role of ethnicity in interpersonal relations, environmental stress effects on African-American executives, inner city economic development, and women in professional service industries.

According to Anderson, these discussions proved extremely useful both to students and alumni.

"People really came out to share, and they got information that addressed their own concerns. That's what made it very special," she said.