In defense of MMS

I would like to whole-heartedly disagree with the sentiments expressed in the March 29 article “MMS: Making Mediocre Standard.” I am a proud member of the inaugural MMS class and I am even prouder to say that I defy every spurious assumption the author made.

When I graduated from Fuqua, I had no job leads and, besides a desire to work in advertising, no sense of where I was going. I was not one of “America’s best” by your definition and had no plans of ending up on Wall St., K Street or Madison Ave. However, unlike you, I was never blinded by a sense of entitlement and I never expected my school to find a job for me. Instead, I decided to defy the logic of our unfortunate economic state and create opportunity for myself. I believe that is called “The American Dream.”

Within months of leaving the hallowed halls of Fuqua, I helped create a health care alternative to emergency rooms and large health care systems in the San Francisco Bay Area. The aptly named After Hours Healthcare company now provides quality medical care to nearly 1,000 people a month and has created dozens of jobs. Furthermore—and just for fun—I created my own advertising company that now provides private practices the opportunity to promote themselves using online marketing. I credit my ability to think both creatively and analytically to the year I spent at Fuqua, in addition to the spectacular four years I spent as a Duke undergrad.

I challenge the author and all those who have ever doubted this program to re-think their assumptions about what MMS strives to achieve. The Masters in Management Studies is not about creating cogs in the vast corporate system. It is about creating multi-faceted individuals whom I guarantee will lead this country forward.

I am living proof of this statement and I am damn proud. May this program continue to prosper.

Let’s go Duke!

Best,

Gregory Adrouny, Trinity ’09