Homecoming Breakfast with David Batstone

About 75 people – students, faculty, alumni and local business persons – heard entrepreneur David Batstone speak at the annual homecoming breakfast Saturday, Oct. 14.

The breakfast was sponsored by EMU’s department of Business and Economics, the EMU Advancement Division and the local chapter of Mennonite Economic Business Associates (MEDA).

Batstone, the senior editor of Worthwhile magazine and executive editor of Sojourners magazine, encouraged his audience to make their life count by doing things that really matter, including addressing human rights issues and being socially responsible.

“Sometimes, we feel we can’t make a difference with all the injustice in the world, but helping just one person is making a difference,” he said. He urged students to step outside their comfort zone and follow God’s calling on their lives, adding: “We are all called to stand up for the powerless.”

Batstone, who is also professor of social ethics at the University of San Francisco, authored the book, “Saving the Corporate Soul” (2003), which lists “eight principles for creating and preserving integrity without selling out.”

David also gave a public presentation on Thursday evening, Oct. 12, in Lehman Auditorium, on the topic “Conducting Business with Purpose and Profit,” and spoke in several classes on Thursday and Friday.