Professors Open Their Homes for Charity

A formal receiving line awaited dinner guests on June 3, 2014, in a scene inspired by the PBS series Downton Abbey. “You can never be too classy,” explained the host, Charles Olson, Professor of the Practice and Director of the Business Honors Program at the Smith School. 

His guests for the evening were four MBA students, who outbid their classmates for the privilege of a black tie dinner with their professor and his wife in their Potomac, Md., home. Two more MBA students served as butlers, following the Downton Abbey theme. 

The dinner was one of nine themed events featuring the personal side of Smith professors, who opened their homes for bidding in a charity auction organized by the school’s MBA Association on April 3, 2014. Overall, the students and faculty raised more than $13,000 for Special Olympics, up from $8,000 in 2013. 

“The Smith community came together,” says Barney Guacheta, MBA ’14, who organized and cohosted the auction with his classmate, Joe Baker, MBA ’14. “This was an opportunity to spend time with our professors, who we love.” 

Guacheta says the professors embraced their roles at the auction, driving up the bidding with PowerPoint slides and good-humored teasing. “The appreciation for Smith professors was on display,” Guacheta says.

The third annual auction will be April 2, 2015. Organizers Sam Ro, MBA ’15, and Jason Berkowitz, MBA ’15, say students and professors are looking forward to the event. Alumni are also welcome to attend. /DJ/