MBA Students Strut Stuff on Playground, Track at Charity Weekend

More than 200 Berkeley MBA students competed at the annual Challenge 4 Charity (C4C) Weekend at Stanford University April 13 and 14, demonstrating physical and mental agility while raising funds for Special Olympics.

C4C Weekend brings together MBA students from nine West Coast business schools to compete in endeavors from squash to spelling bees and from basketball to a battle of the bands. The event raises funds for Boys and Girls Clubs, the Special Olympics, and family-related charities local to each school.

Each school also gets the chance to showcase particular strengths, which turned out to be dodgeball and the 5K run for Berkeley-Haas. In a seven-game series, the Blue and Gold’s precise aim with a playground ball knocked the competition down one by one, until only the UCLA Bruins stood between Haas and the title—obtained in a nail-biter of a Game 7. In the fleet-to-foot category, Chris Chavez, MBA 13, had time to nibble on what remained of his fingernails after dodgeball, as he crossed the 5K finish line two minutes ahead of the second-place runner.

Berkeley MBA students this year raised $42,000 and worked more than 1,300 volunteer hours for the Alameda Point Collaborative (APC), a nonprofit dedicated to helping the homeless. On May 20, APC will honor Haas with its Educational Partner Award for the students’ strong fundraising and volunteer support.

 “C4C embodies the Haas principle of Beyond Yourself and makes an incredibly close Haas community feel even closer,” says C4C’s Sports Weekend VP Gabe Gil, MBA 13. “We are continuously inspired by those we are helping.”

Together the nine C4C schools have raised $5.8 million for the Special Olympics and contributed 18,000 hours of volunteer service to the organization and other charities since 1996. 

For more information on how to become involved with Challenge 4 Charity, contact [email protected].

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