Immanuel Business School MBA Students Visit Greenville College

Published: April 13, 2021

In October, Greenville College had the privilege of hosting two MBA students from the MBA program at Immanuel Business School in Hyderabad, India. Their visit happened, in part, through Greenville Colleges friendship with Immanuel Business School. Earlier this year, in January, GC alumnus David Goodnight, Dr. Brian Hartley, Dean of the School of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and Professor Religion and Elizabeth Ahern, director of Cross-Cultural & International Academic Programs and Instructor of Business, traveled to Hyderabad and visited IBSs campus. In October, GC was able to return the warm hospitality its faculty received in Hyderabad by welcoming these students onto campus.

The vision of Immanuel Business School is to provide world-class education to students in India through their Master of Business Administration degrees with the hope of bringing social and economic transformation in the lives of their students, in India and throughout the world. Affiliated with the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in Hyderabad, IBS offers 2-year MBA programs in Finance, Human Resources and Marketing. The school offers an opportunity for their students to gain international experience through an intensive study abroad experience in the United States. This year, two scholars were afforded this opportunity, Mercy Martina of Hyderabad, India, and Rajkishore Rout of Odisha, India.

Before arriving in Greenville on Oct. 17, Martina and Rout visited Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Mich. and the Herff Jones, Inc. headquarters in Indianapolis, Ind. Upon their arrival in Greenville, Martina and Rout were warmly welcomed into the hearts, homes and classrooms of GC faculty, students and alumni.

During their stay, the scholars attended classes where they learned about business from an American perspective and shared insights about business from an Indian perspective; attended a Joyous Chaos rehearsal and a Lab Band concert; shared their testimonies and worshipped with GC students in chapel; enjoyed the vibrant autumnal hues across campus; savored conversations over coffee with newfound friends at Jos Java and provided inspiration to everyone who heard their stories.

While visiting GC, Martina and Rout also visited with church leaders at The Gathering United Methodist Churchin St. Louis, Mo. and shared their stories with congregations at Greenville Free Methodist Church and St. Pauls Free Methodist Church in Greenville. Other highlights of their Greenville visit include sightseeing in St. Louis, cooking a traditional Indian dinner for their campus hosts. They departed on Oct. 23 for Seattle Pacific University, the third and final leg of their journey before returning home to India on Oct. 31.

These type of exchanges are valuable to our community because they are super educational in learning to manage business across cultures, explains Ahern. These interactions are especially of great value as we seek to understand Gods kingdom and its work in various parts of the world.