October 23, 2003 -- Minority Career Day, an annual recruiting event hosted by the career services office at the University of Virginia, will take place Oct. 28 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Omni Hotel in Charlottesville. Initiated in 1983, Minority Career Day has grown to be the largest minority recruiting event for college students in the mid-Atlantic region. More than 1,000 students are expected to attend this year from U.Va. as well as from colleges and universities in Virginia and Washington, D.C.

As of today, recruiters from 125 organizations have registered to participate. They represent a variety of public, private and nonprofit entities from business, government, health care, technology and other fields. American Management Systems, The May Company/Hecht’s and Booz Allen Hamilton are sponsoring this year’s event.

Prior to the event, University Career Services will host a reception for U.Va. students, recruiters and invited guests on Oct. 27 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at the Omni Hotel. Joanne M. Yoo, a 1998 graduate of U.Va.’s McIntire School of Commerce, will speak. Yoo owns an event planning and marketing firm in New York and is now working concurrently toward a master’s in business administration from Columbia University and a master’s in public administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. She previously worked in the financial industry in New York and was an investment officer for the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone Development Corporation, a Clinton administration initiative aimed at revitalizing distressed communities by using public funds and tax incentives as catalysts for private investments.
Originally designed for African-American students, Minority Career Day has been broadened to include all students, especially those who consider themselves of minority status, whether defined by ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation or another factor.

To learn more about the program and about participating recruiters and institutions, see http://www.virginia.edu/career/mcd/mcdweb.htm.

More information also is available from Haley Whitlock Gyory, events manager for University Career Services, at haley@virginia.edu, or 434/924-8908.