By Alex Kirshner ’18
THE ROUNDUP
The finance club is a student-run organization on campus that attempts to teach its members about how to run a successful business and turn a profit, while also focusing on Jesuit ideals and values so that their businesses remain ethical.
The club was started in 2014, and current president Connor Thomson ’18 has been a member since his freshman year. This is Thomson’s first year as president.
According to Thomson, the club was modeled after the hit movie “The Wolf of Wall Street,” and that many people in the club wanted to learn how to get rich quick.
“People wanted to get rich and live like Jordan Belfort… I just wanted to change the culture and recognize the injustices and corruption with corporate America,” said Thomson.
He said that he believed that it was against Brophy’s Jesuit values to run a club based solely on making money.
“Brophy wants us to give back and give back generously, but when we’re enticed to do something because of a man who is greedy and self-absorbed and lives an egregious life, then is that really something that we’re called to do as Brophy men who want to go on and study finance?” Thomson said.
The club invites guest speakers who have experience in the world of finance, from physics teacher Mr. Zack Widbin to Mr. Brandon Maxwell, who is is the CEO of M Culinary Concepts, or better known to Brophy students as “Michael’s Catering.”
“They tell us how they have defeated the stereotypes of being self-absorbed and greedy, and how they use these Jesuit practices of being men for others and put them into use,” Thomson said.
Johnny Sayegh ’18, the vice president of the club, says that he believes that the members of the finance club can learn a lot from their guest speakers.
“We should model our lives after our guest speakers,” he said. “While being top executives, we can also have time for our families, our community and others.”
The world of finance has long been about nothing more than making money and increasing your profit margin, but Thomson and the rest of the finance club are seeking to instill their Jesuit values into the club.
“There’s more than money and your profitability,” Thomson said.
Sayegh shared a similar viewpoint, stating that there will always be more important things in life than your profitability.
“We try to do our best to show the student body what it means to be a ‘finance guy’ with a Jesuitical attitude of men for others,” he said.
