March 27, 2009

M²=Success: New Mentor Program at the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law

While many students perceive mentorship programs as a way to gain advice and job leads, it’s not often that they think about such programs as a way of giving back. Recently, the Morin Center for Banking and Financial Law at Boston University School of Law instituted a mentorship program that works two ways: encouraging students to seek guidance from mentors while acting as mentors themselves for students at Brighton High School.

Reflecting the dual nature of the mentorship program, the Morin

BU Law students and Brighton High mentees gather for a business etiquette lecture.

Center dubbed the initiative M² (pronounced M-squared), boasting the tagline: M² = Success. Martin Lacdao, associate director of the law school’s Graduate Program in Banking and Financial Law, oversaw the program from its conception in the summer of 2008.

“We educate people in this school. We try to make them good professionals. We try to give them the best technology and the best training to become great lawyers, banking and financial services executives. But, at the same time, we also want to make our students good citizens, and the M² mentorship program is one way of doing that,” says Lacdao.

Lacdao and Morin Center director Professor Cornelius Hurley worked out a strategy for the program with the headmaster from Brighton High School and a member of the Boston Private Industry Council.

Last fall, 33 students paid a visit to Brighton High to meet the high school students for the first time.

Recalling his first meeting with the mentees, Chris Gorman ('09) says, "I especially enjoyed the diversity of the Brighton students. My mentee is originally from Afghanistan, and another student was originally from Ethiopia, both of them speak three languages....The Morin Center’s student body is extremely diverse as well, and I think this diversity substantially contributes to the classroom learning experience."

Friendships forged between the BU Law and Brighton High students are not intended to guide high school students towards law school, but to open their eyes to alternative paths in life. “A lot of the folks who go to Brighton High School are very motivated to go to college. But, you also have a cohort there that you could describe as being at-risk kids. The program is not designed to make the kids lawyers, but to drive home the point that they can squeeze more out of their lives than they thought possible.”

On the other end of the spectrum, BU Law students are paired in mentorships with Morin Center faculty and its Board of Advisors. “It’s a tough job market out there. The program was really our way of helping our students network and get their names out there. Every little thing counts," says Lacdao.

"Having the benefit of being mentored by a Morin Center advisor, professor or 'friend' of the Morin Center can be tremendously advantageous. These individuals are practicing lawyers who have had accomplished careers, and their insight and advice can be incredibly beneficial to someone just starting in this field," says Gorman.

However, Lacdao stresses that the mentorship program is not designed for students to gain job offers from mentors. “We want students to do this because they feel an urge to do it. I’d rather students enter into this program with enthusiasm and genuine desire to help and to be of service to others."

The M² program is still in its beginning stages and will continue into the next academic year. “Next year we’re going to continue the program and tweak it a bit. I think the important part is that we’re putting it out there. Especially nowadays, the need for financial professionals with a social or civic consciousness is even more important than it was before,” says Lacdao.

Reported by Lauren Shiraka