Tuesday, June 2, 1998
Student business
leader suggests improvements
ANDERSON: Association president-elect John Knecht stresses
diversity, support
By J. Sharon Yee
Daily Bruin Contributor
Taking classes, participating in clubs and playing the drums in
a rock band doesn’t seem to be enough for John Knecht, a first-year
student at the Anderson Graduate School of Management.
Next year, Knecht will be the Anderson Student Association (ASA)
president, hoping to lead and motivate other student leaders.
"My No. 1 job is to inspire and empower other students to take
on leadership roles," he said.
Knecht, who graduated from University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in 1993, dabbled in everything from business to music
during his undergraduate years.
After taking two years of business classes, he finally decided
to major in marketing and journalism and ended up with enough
credits to minor in business as well.
"I was trying to avoid being too focused and (there are) the
societal pressures to specialize in one field," he reflected.
As ASA president, Knecht must now focus his efforts on the
crucial issues which concern the Anderson student body.
"We’re fast and furiously trying to figure out what the issues
are that will make the Anderson a better place," he said.
An informal class poll asked students to rank, on a scale of 1
to 10, 12 items considered to be the business school’s core
competencies, including entrepreneurship, student leadership,
altruism and faculty. Nearly 44 percent of the students who
responded ranked entrepreneurship the highest, with a score of
8.19.
Other categories which also garnered favorable response include
career management (7.96) and technological edge (7.85).
Areas which students agreed could be improved were diversity
(6.11) and international perspective (5.84).
Knecht said that diversity needs to be addressed in admissions,
student life and alumni networking. Outreach into the Los Angeles
community is another area which Knecht would like to advance.
"Anderson has such a strong sense of community and team spirit,"
he said.
One of his goals is to reach out more to the university
community, possibly forging relationships with the Undergraduate
Business Society and programs within other graduate schools on
campus.
In between his presidential duties and classes, Knecht has
managed to play all the major clubs in Los Angeles with his band,
Peculiar Boogie, which he describes as "a cross between the Black
Crowes and Indigo Girls."
Recently, the five-person band raised $5,000 to record a compact
disc complete with 11 original songs, some of which will be
performed in a few weeks at Orange County’s Coach House.
Knecht’s passion for music began at the age of 10 when he first
started playing the drums, an instrument he said does all the dirty
work but gets very little respect.
Nevertheless, he likens being a drummer to being a leader. The
drummer acts as a foundation for the other instruments’ solos,
which is exactly what a good leader does.
"The job of an effective leader is to support everyone else and
allow them to do their jobs a lot easier," he said.
Knecht decided to attend business school for two primary
reasons, one of which was to obtain a certain set of skills
necessary to move up to the next level in any career.
"Essentially, you learn to analyze how people work in
organizations and how to market your own ideas, which is absolutely
important in any field you pursue," he said.
The second reason was to set up a network of connections to help
bridge the gap between the non-profit and private sectors in
business.
"I want to help build the communication between the two sectors
so that both parties understand there is an important crossover
between the two," he said. "Up until very recently, there hasn’t
been any quantifiable data to support the importance of the
arts."
Knecht offered some advice to undergraduates considering the
possibility of business school in their futures.
"Looking back, I don’t encourage spreading yourself too thin but
rather concentrate on having a breadth of experience," Knecht said.
"You can come from any direction so long as you show some."
"Oh, and do well on the GMAT," he added.