About 15 members of Occupy Cornell, Occupy Ithaca College and Occupy Ithaca protested the Work on Wall Street Conference at the Statler Hotel on Saturday.
The third annual WOWS Conference was hosted by Delta Sigma Pi business fraternity and cosponsored by Barclays Capital.
John Bove ’94, director in equities liquid market sales at Barclays Capital, gave the keynote speech, during which two Occupy Cornell protesters, Michael Holt ’15 and Tom Moore ’14, a Daily Sun opinion columnist, stood up with a banner declaring their message.
“Stop the Cornell – Wall Street pipeline. Choose the right occupation,” the sign stated.
As soon as the students held up the banner they were told they were exhibiting disorderly conduct, and asked to leave quickly.
The students left after the statement was read, and Bove continued the speech.
“Back to business,” he said.
Bove spoke about his experience as both a trader and a salesman on Wall Street, specifically focusing on his experience on the trading floor.
“It’s like walking into a stadium with screaming fans,” Bove said. “Coming in and proving yourself … it’s exciting.”
Bove emphasized the freedom available in Wall Street and other financial industry jobs and encouraged students to exercise that freedom.
“Don’t be afraid to really let out who you are,” Bove said. “That’s what Wall Street is all about.”
He also described the types of applicants Wall Street employers seek. “We need people with integrity,” Bove said.
Moore, one of the students to raise the banner during the keynote speech, said the sign was an effective way to get the Occupy Wall Street message out.
According to Moore, he brought in the banner to the keynote speech to change the tone of the meeting.
“We want to open up the conversation,” Moore said. “Students have other options besides finance.”
Toward the end of the conference, the group of protesters gathered outside of the Statler Hotel to protest.
According to the manifesto read during the protest, the protesting students do not “hold it against” the students who attended the WOWS conference.
“We are here today in solidarity,” protesters chanted.
The group was protesting the “Cornell – Wall Street pipeline” because it funnels “the best and the brightest” into financial jobs, instead of having these people working towards a sustainable future, according to the manifesto the group read during the protest.
“We are here today to protest a system where the question of how to make the world a better place does not enter the conversation,” the manifesto said.
President of Delta Sigma Pi Adam Nicoletti ’12 declined to comment.
The conference provided opportunities for students interested in business to participate in breakout sessions that covered topics ranging from different job opportunities in the financial sector to methods to get a job on Wall Street, according to the event details provided by DSP.
Speakers in these breakout sessions were recent Cornell graduates working at places such as Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley.
According to Cornell’s 2011 Post Graduate Survey, 2.7 percent of students who responded would be entering “Business and Management” fields professionally or for graduate school. Of those entering Business and Industry fields, 24.5 percent were working in financial service and 14.2 percent were working in consulting.
Employers that hired the highest number of graduating students for 2011 consisted of corporations such as Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.
Bove emphasized the freedom available in Wall Street and other financial industry jobs and encouraged students to exercise that freedom.
“Don’t be afraid to really let out who you are,” Bove said. “That’s what Wall Street is all about.”
He also described the types of applicants Wall Street employers seek.
“We need people with integrity,” Bove said.
Moore, one of the students to raise the banner during the speech, said the sign was an effective way to get the Occupy Wall Street message out.
According to Moore, he brought in the banner to the keynote speech to change the tone of the meeting.
“We want to open up the conversation,” Moore said. “Students have other options besides finance.”
Toward the end of the conference, the group of protesters gathered outside of the Statler Hotel to protest.
According to the manifesto read during the protest, the protesting students do not “hold it against” the students who attended the WOWS conference.
“We are here today in solidarity,” protesters chanted.
The group was protesting the “Cornell to Wall Street pipeline” because it funnels “the best and the brightest” into financial jobs, instead of having these people working toward a sustainable future, according to the group’s manifesto.
“We are here today to protest a system where the question of how to make the world a better place does not enter the conversation,” the manifesto said.
President of Delta Sigma Pi Adam Nicoletti ’12 declined to comment.
The conference provided opportunities for students interested in business to participate in sessions that covered topics ranging from different job opportunities in the financial sector to methods to get a job on Wall Street, according to the event details provided by DSP.
Speakers in these sessions were recent Cornell graduates working at companies like Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley.
According to Cornell’s 2011 Post Graduate Survey, 24.5 percent of students who responded entered the financial services industry and 14.2 percent worked in consulting.
Employers that hired the highest number of graduating students for 2011 included corporations such as Barclays Capital, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.
Original Author: Caroline Flax