Marriott School Honored Alum, Whistle Float Highlight Homecoming Festivities

The Marriott School float displayed 22 industrial
whistles from Utah businesses.PROVO, Utah – Oct 12, 2010 – Last week Brigham Young University was busy hosting campus-wide activities during Homecoming week, and the Marriott School was no exception, adding its own twists to some of the traditional events.

Homecoming was accented by BYU's traditional parade, featuring floats from many colleges on campus as well as local businesses and community members. The Marriott School Student Council represented the business school with its own float, displaying 22 industrial whistles from businesses that at one point have called Utah their home, such as Geneva Steel, Del Monte and Kenilworth Coal. The float belongs to Lynn McKell, professor of information systems, who salvaged the whistles from local factories and mines.

"The whistles represent the industrial foundation of Utah," McKell says. "These were great businesses in the late 1800s until the 1960s, and some are still in business today. Industry marched to the beat of these whistles."

Members of the Marriott School Student Council decorate the float with club banners.Riders of the float included representatives from major clubs and organizations within the Marriott School, who responded to cheering crowds by blowing the whistles while driving along the parade route.

Earlier in the week Allan O'Bryant, current president of AFLAC International, spoke to business students as the Marriott School's chosen honored alumnus speaker. O'Bryant's address focused on keeping the end in sight — particularly in managing businesses and making important decisions.

"It is important to set milestones to help you get where you want to be," O'Bryant said. "If you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter what road you choose to take."

O'Bryant shared personal experiences from his professional career and taught the importance of having a plan to guide a business toward success. With such a plan, he explained, you can greatly reduce stress and keep your entire staff on the same page.

A plan helped to make Homecoming week successful in helping students celebrate while building awareness of the school's mission and its importance in their academic pursuits and careers of students.

"We've had an exciting week," said Bracken Hodges, vice president of the Marriott School Student Council. "Through activities this week we've learned that by working hard and being innovative, we can go out into the world and spread the knowledge we have here at BYU."

The Marriott School is located at Brigham Young University, the largest privately owned, church-sponsored university in the United States. The school has nationally recognized programs in accounting, business management, public management, information systems and entrepreneurship. The school's mission is to prepare men and women of faith, character and professional ability for positions of leadership throughout the world. Approximately 3,000 students are enrolled in the Marriott School's graduate and undergraduate programs.