Top business leaders offer career advice to Christopher Newport students at unique BusX conference

Students at Christopher Newport University’s top-ranked Luter School of Business won’t go to class on February 21,  but it may prove to be one of the most beneficial days of their college careers.

Luter is hosting its bi-annual BusX conference that brings top executives to campus for a varied series of seminars, networking events and casual hallway conversations. Luter classes are canceled on the 21 for the duration of the conference. BusX begins the night before with a reception and dinner for students, faculty and conference participants.

Among the highlights this year will be keynote addresses by Brenda Snow, founder and CEO of Snow Companies, and by Brian Eakes (BA ‘91), senior vice president of Legg Mason. Eakes is a global finance expert at Legg Mason, an international investment management firm headquartered in Baltimore. Snow, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, started her company in Williamsburg to connect patients with chronic conditions to pharmaceutical companies. She twice was named one of the 100 Most Inspiring People in her industry.

The seminars, with Christopher Newport alumni and business leaders as panelists, cover current topics in business with titles such as Breaking Barriers: Women in Business, The Suite Life: Conversations from the Corner Office, and Thriving in a Generationally Diverse Workplace.

“We don’t make the decision to cancel classes lightly,” said Luter School of Business Dean George H. Ebbs. “BusX will more than make up for what they miss in a classroom. This is a remarkable opportunity for students considering career paths or graduate degrees to get insight from knowledgeable professionals. If the 2017 inaugural BusX conference is any guide, the students will also make connections that have the potential of changing their lives and launching their careers.”

The Luter School was recently ranked among the top four in Virginia and top 45 in the country for undergraduate education, according to the business education news outlet Poets & Quants. The school received especially high marks for its career outcomes. That assessment was based on the percentage of students in the Class of 2018 with internships before graduation and with full-time jobs within three months of graduation. Their average salary and signing bonus was also a factor.