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“You learn to pay it forward.” Rotman Commerce ’68 grads on their class scholarship

The group of five alumni — all successful businessmen and philanthropists in their own right — have kept in touch for over 50 years.

July 2022

Group shot of the Class of 1968

John Rogers (first row, 6th from left to right); Eric Slavens (first row, 9th from left to right); Lorne Weil (first row, 10th from left to right); Wes Scott (first row, 2nd from the right); David Wilson (second row, 5th from left to right).

In 2018, John Rogers, Eric Slavens, David Wilson, Wes Scott, and Lorne Weil, along with others in their class, decided to celebrate their 50th reunion by generously investing in the next generation of leaders. The Building Canadian Leaders: Class of 1968 Scholarship in Rotman Commerce provides funding in each year of the Commerce program and supports candidates who have made an immense impact with their leadership and achievement.

Since Lorne was travelling, we sat down with John, Eric, David and Wes to discuss their alma mater, leadership, and philanthropy, as well as their message to Rotman alumni. (Lorne did email us some of his thoughts.)

How have all of you stayed so close since graduating in 1968?

Eric Slavens: We weren't necessarily that close in our class. But as the years went on, we all became serious students and career-focused, and that's carried through over the years. There’s a bond that develops when you spend time together during those formative years.

John Rogers: We started to coalesce around the anniversaries, and as we got older and realized we had more time on our hands and weren't running businesses anymore or bringing up our kids, we started to spend a little bit more time together.

David Wilson: With most relationships, you have to have something in common, and we had our four years together in a small class in common. As we started to come back together for the reunions, part of what brought us together wasn’t just the common experience of four years together, but that we’d been pretty successful. And the two combined were catalysts for a bonding sort of experience as we got ready for these reunions, and it got better and better as we got closer to 50.

What was it like to study at Rotman Commerce, and how did that experience shape you as a business leader and a philanthropist?

Wes Scott: I was the first in my family to graduate from University and I understood what a great gift that was. Dealing and working with intelligent and engaging people helped prepare me for my career. The philanthropy part came much later, and it’s in recognition of the gifts received.

John: When I look back on it, I think it's more just the experience of it. We were very fortunate to have a very good commerce program. And, there were many opportunities out there. So I think the grounding you got within the courses themselves and the professors and the people just sort of set you off on whatever career you wanted to choose.

Eric: We probably took it for granted at the time, but I think that over the four years we evolved into a pretty serious group — a career-focused group — and the program was really excellent.


"Remember the gift you were given and be sure to pay it forward."

Wes Scott, BCOM '68


What inspired you to give back philanthropically to Rotman?

John: Once you're launched into a career, if you're reasonably successful, then you tend to look back and say perhaps it would be nice to share those opportunities with other people. I think that's how we look at the award program that we put together. It's like, if there's somebody out there that could benefit from the experiences that we enjoyed, if we could help them kickstart their career, maybe they could end up being relatively successful like we were.

Eric: I would say it comes more with hindsight than at the time. Over time you learn to pay it forward and hope we can share what we gained.

Four years ago you all agreed to combine scholarships that many of you had already established to create the Building Canadian Leaders: Class of 1968 Scholarship in Rotman Commerce. Why did you establish those original scholarships and why did you combine them?

Eric: I would give credit to the university development staff for presenting us with something that made a lot of sense. If it wasn't presented to us, we would have done our 50th and this wouldn't have happened.

John: At the time we started planning the 50th, we thought it would be a good idea to establish something related to that. Then the concept of the matching program was presented to us and we were thrilled to know we could increase the impact of our donations by leveraging a matching.

David: I agree — the key part of that was the matching. Coming from a business background, the notion of getting two dollars for each dollar for everyone was just irresistible. And the idea was floated and not aggressively pushed, so it was a very attractive thing to think about and we all agreed to do it.

Wes: Bigger is better. This option created the critical mass to make a significant difference in people’s lives and ability to pursue their education.

The newer scholarship is called Building Canadian Leaders. What role do you see Commerce playing in building Canadian leaders?

John: What we’re doing here is trying to find people who will step up and use a leadership role. And when I say leadership, it’s not about being the best accountant or the best engineer or the best lawyer, it's about being able to get people of many talents to focus and operate as a team — someone who isn’t necessarily the brightest person in the room, but they can bring out the best in others. And that’s the sort of quality we tend to look for in an individual.

Wes: Canada needs leaders, not just technocrats. Leaders come forward at an early age in many cases, and we want to ensure that they get the kind of education that will allow them to make a difference in the future.

Philanthropy is important to you. What inspires you to give back?

David: We recognized we were very fortunate and we want to share our good fortune and help others achieve similar or greater success.

John: Yeah, I think all of us would say we had a good foundation, and we worked hard but we were in my own opinion fortunate in terms of the choices that we made or the breaks that we had along the road. There are many people who work hard but perhaps don't enjoy the same success and so I think to me giving back is part of recognizing that you know you've had some breaks along the way.

Eric: You’re right, John, you're right we've been fortunate so why not give something back? I was just at a lunch today trying to convince a businessman who I work with that he should be giving more back.

John: You can’t take it with you.

Lorne (by email): Back when we were in Commerce, we all lived at home and tuition was $400 a year. And for that we got an extraordinary education that gave each of us in his own way a platform for a fulfilling 40- or 50-year career. But it’s a lot more complicated these days and I’m very glad we can help a few deserving students more easily navigate their way to a similar outcome.

Do you have a message for Rotman alumni?

Wes: Remember the gift you were given and be sure to pay it forward. Work hard, have fun and remember that this is only the beginning.

John: Start thinking about your experiences and start to consider sharing. Especially if you're having a reasonably successful run at it. And yes, work hard, but also have fun.

David: My wife and I were in Paris in a restaurant and there was a poster on the wall and it said in big bold type, ‘work hard and be nice to people.’ I bought reproductions of this art poster for all my grandchildren and it's on the wall where they do their homework. So, work hard and be nice to people.

If you’re interested in donating to the Building Canadian Leaders: Class of 1968 Scholarship in Rotman Commerce, you can do so here. Or you can learn more about ways to give to Rotman Commence or the Rotman School — plus stay tuned for our upcoming Rotman Giving Day.


Written by Alain Latour


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Questions?

Contact Alison Sasso at
416-978-1568 or
alison.sasso@rotman.utoronto.ca