Rutgers EMBA network builds enduring bonds between students and alumni

Most Executive MBA (EMBA) programs promise a strong network. In Rutgers EMBA program, students find ways to keep it going.

Over the summer, alumni from the Rutgers EMBA Class of 2026 and students in the senior Class of 2027, organized the first Rutgers EMBA Walking Party for their two cohorts. Fifteen students and alumni spent a day across Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, mixing networking, exploration and the kind of unhurried conversation that rarely fits into a scheduled event. 

Education sits at the center of the Rutgers EMBA experience. Yet much of the program’s enduring value comes from the people students meet during those two years. Rutgers EMBA is always looking to help those relationships continue after graduation while opening new connections across cohorts that may never have shared a classroom [Executive MBA Alumni Benefits].

The morning began at the 9/11 Memorial, where a single white rose marked a name on the bronze parapet on the day that person would have celebrated a birthday. It was easy to miss, and it set a personal tone for the rest of the day.

At St. Paul's Chapel, the group found a 1776 painting of the proposed Great Seal of America featuring a turkey, the bird Benjamin Franklin argued, only half-jokingly, might beat the bald eagle as the national symbol. 

Near Charging Bull and Fearless Girl, the former International Telephone & Telegraph Building revealed another overlooked detail: a mural of Mercury using electricity to unite the Eastern and Western hemispheres through the telegraph and telephone. The image felt especially appropriate – the day was about closing distances.

Each discovery sparked another conversation. People traded trivia, filled in gaps and moved from the history in front of them to what they were working on now. A planned quick lunch at the Time Out Market in Brooklyn stretched into a long session over hot pizzas as classmates caught up on their summers.

At Brooklyn Flea, the group found a onesie for Emma, the youngest “walker,” who was napping through most of it. Between those stops came a sunny walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, time by the DUMBO waterfront and a short ferry ride back to Manhattan.

The itinerary provided the path, but the unhurried moments gave the day its character. People who knew one another mainly through class, events or cohort labels had time to exchange stories without an agenda or a countdown clock. That is what alumni engagement can add to a strong academic program. It keeps the network active, creates shared experiences across graduating classes and gives relationships room to deepen beyond scheduled reunions.

Emma went home with her new onesie. When she wears it, the group will have a small reminder of the sunny day when people from across the Rutgers EMBA community came to know one another a little better.

- Why RBS is a blog that explores the deeper benefits of being a part of Rutgers Business School.