Selotlegeng Scholarship honors retiring OHIO educator, mentor

Beatrice Selotlegeng, MBA ’08, accepts the Alumni Award for Excellence in Global Engagement during Ohio University’s 2016 Global Engagement Awards Gala. Photo courtesy Emily Matthews/Ohio University Communications and Marketing

For the past 15 years, Beatrice Selotlegeng, MBA ’08, has shepherded dozens of students to and through their Ohio University experience – a legacy and a role that will continue even after she retires on June 30.

Selotlegeng’s more than 8,000-mile journey from Botswana to the bricks of Athens was supposed to be a rather short one. She learned about OHIO from Michael Gray, who served as an assistant professor of business law and director of diversity for the College of Business for 20-plus years and who met Selotlegeng on one of his many trips to Southern Africa.

“We met, and we clicked immediately,” Gray said of his first encounter with Selotlegeng, which led to internship opportunities in Botswana for OHIO students. “If you know anything about Beatrice, she’s quite connected no matter where she is. As a result of that meeting, my contacts exploded in Botswana.”

When he returned to OHIO, Gray mentioned Selotlegeng, who had built a successful career as an executive in aviation management, to Glenn Corlett, BBA ’65, who served as dean of the College of Business from 1997 to 2007.

“During my time as dean, I always felt that one of the most important roles was to select and recruit good faculty,” Corlett said. “If you get good faculty members, you’re going to have a good program. That’s how I got excited about Beatrice in the first place. She was so good right from the start.”

The college invited Selotlegeng to the Athens Campus to share her business experience with students here, and Corlett traveled to Southern Africa twice on University business – each time visiting with Selotlegeng.

“She took us to see the U.S. ambassador, she introduced us to the biggest bank in Botswana, and she arranged a tea with the past president of Botswana and his daughter,” Corlett said of his trips to see Selotlegeng. “Everywhere we went, people just loved Beatrice. She knew everybody in the country it seemed, and everybody respected her.”

After watching Selotlegeng teach at the University of Botswana, Corlett knew having a faculty member with her passion, wit and energy would be transformative for business students.

“Glenn truly was a non-academic dean, coming from corporate America,” Gray said. “As a result of his background, he viewed things differently. He understood the importance of having professionals on staff. When I suggested bringing Beatrice to Ohio University, he didn’t hesitate.”

Leaving behind her position as acting chief executive of Air Botswana, Selotlegeng arrived at OHIO in December 2005 on a 2.5-year contract to serve as an executive-in-residence faculty member in the College of Business, teaching management courses.

Pictured (from left) are Glenn Corlett, BBA ’65, former dean of the College of Business; Caleb Hall, BBA ’23; Bonnilyn Corlett; and Beatrice Selotlegeng, MBA ’08. Hall is the first recipient of the Beatrice Selotlegeng Scholarship, created by Glenn and Bonnilyn Corlett.

“That contract expired in 2008, and I’m still here,” Selotlegeng said. “I was welcomed here with a lot of love and friendship, and I never looked back.”

Selotlegeng graduated from OHIO’s Master of Business Administration program for senior executives and served as interim director of the University’s Women’s Center when it opened in 2007 and as the advisor and mentor to multicultural students in the College of Business.

“I really just made sure I used my professional experience to empower and help students,” Selotlegeng said. “My interaction with the students was very fulfilling, and Glenn saw something in me that I wasn’t aware of. He thought my talent would best be utilized as an academic advisor.”

In 2008, Selotlegeng became a full-time academic advisor for the College of Business’ Career and Student Success Center in addition to overseeing the college’s Junior Executive Business Program (JEBP). Founded in 2004, JEBP was an eight-day summer program that brought rising high school seniors interested in majoring in business to the Athens Campus to explore the College of Business’ majors, learn about financial literacy and introduce them to Ohio University. The program was designed to serve disproportionately underrepresented students with a goal of increasing diversity within the College of Business and the companies that were hiring its graduates.

“Beatrice started recruiting students, counseling students and organizing ways to enrich their experience,” Corlett said, noting that Selotlegeng also served as coordinator of the college’s diversity recruitment and retention programs. “Through the Junior Executive Business Program, she taught students how to be successful in higher education, whether they came to OHIO or not. She counseled them, did mock courses, and showed them how to get the most out of their education.”

Over the course of the JEBP’s 13 years, Ohio University graduated more than 60 students who hadn’t even planned on going to college until they had that experience.

“They came, we mentored them, and now they’re out there changing the world,” Selotlegeng said. “I think that program is really going to be my legacy. I learned so much from my students, and knowing how they go out there and change the world has been my motivation every single day.”

Through her work with the JEBP, Selotlegeng also became more deeply aware of the financial obstacles that often prevent students, particularly those from underrepresented populations, from pursuing a college education.

“Beatrice realized that a lot of these promising students couldn’t go to college simply because they couldn’t afford it,” Corlett said. “She wanted us to consider any way that we could supplement the financial aid these students would be entitled to by virtue of their family’s income.”

In June 2018, Corlett and his wife, Bonnilyn, established the Beatrice Selotlegeng Scholarship to benefit students enrolled in the College of Business who come from underrepresented populations. The scholarship gives preference to students who participate in Ohio Business Week, a week-long business camp through which high school student practice tackling real business-world challenges while having a real college experience.

Over the last two years, more than 30 donors, including OHIO employees, friends and alumni – many of whom participated in the JEBP – have contributed to the Beatrice Selotlegeng Scholarship, honoring the legacy of this pillar of the College of Business’ community while continuing her work to recruit and support the next generation of Business Bobcats.

Caleb Hall, BBA ’23, is the first recipient of the Beatrice Selotlegeng Scholarship and was mentored by Selotlegeng during his first year as a Bobcat.

“I love Beatrice,” Hall said. “During the school year, we met many times, talking about various things such as our lives, families, and how well I was adapting to my life as a student. Being able to meet with her like that gave me a lot of knowledge as she has taught me a lot about the College of Business and other important information that will help me graduate and achieve my goals.”

Hall noted that the scholarship has not only alleviated his and his family’s financial worries but also has given him a new perspective on the days that lie ahead.

“It has changed my outlook on school and my future here because I now know that I am a role model because I am the first recipient of this scholarship,” he said. “It is a great honor to have this scholarship, and I hope that I can be a good role model to future recipients of it.”

For Selotlegeng, the scholarship that bears her name is a tribute to all those “junior exec” alumni, many of whom continue to stay connected to Ohio University and returned to campus for the 2019 Black Alumni Reunion.

“When I told them about the scholarship, I mentioned to them that the scholarship is really not mine; it’s for all of us who have been associated with the Junior Executive Business Program,” Selotlegeng said. “When you do what you love to do for the love of it and then you are honored, it’s very humbling. Having this scholarship named after me, I can’t begin to tell you how humbled and honored I am. I have loved every minute of my life here at Ohio University.”