Athletic Department Holds Annual Senior Dinner

Feb. 8, 2011

The Carnegie Mellon Department of Athletics hosted the fourth annual Senior Dinner on Tuesday, February 8, as coaches and administrators honored the athletes for outstanding service to the program.

"It was great to get all the senior athletes together to share experiences from the last four years,” said football student-athlete Angelo Morales. “I am confident that the relationships I built with my fellow athletes throughout the athletic program will last a lifetime."

Part of the athletics department’s Excellence Forum, the Senior Dinner is not only a chance to celebrate, but also an opportunity to provide the impending graduates with some tools to succeed in their post-college lives.

For the third straight year, industry experts Roger Roble and R.F. Culbertson made presentations regarding the importance of personal financial planning. A 1985 Carnegie Mellon graduate, Roble was a football student-athlete and founded the wealth management firm Roble, Belko & Company in 2000. An entrepreneur by trade, Culbertson holds three Carnegie Mellon degrees and has spent the past 11 years teaching in the Tepper School of Business.

“I look forward to the Senior Dinner every year. It’s a wonderful celebration,” said Director of Athletics Susan Bassett. “Our hope is that the seniors will begin to develop a plan for their lives after graduation. We are fortunate to have Roger and R.F. share their expertise and communicate the importance of financial planning.”

Following the presentations, Roble and Culbertson answered a number of questions from the audience. The student-athletes appreciated the opportunity to glean information from the experts.

“Both of the speakers were great,” said senior swimmer Molly Evans. “It’s nice to know that alumni care enough to come back and try to help senior athletes with financial planning for the future.”

Bassett, who developed the Excellence Forum when she came to Carnegie Mellon in 2005, opened the program with thoughts for the senior student-athletes on lifelong fitness and their relationship with Carnegie Mellon.

“Our seniors have spent the last four years at Carnegie Mellon, but I hope they look at this as just the beginning of their relationship with the university,” Bassett said. “This group has accomplished great things in the classroom and on the fields of play. We know they will continue to make us proud.”