RSM bachelor graduations raise €10,000 for children’s hospital

Proceeds from this year’s two bachelor graduation ceremonies of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) were presented to Friends of Sophia, the charity foundation for Rotterdam’s Erasmus MC-Sophia children’s hospital. The more than €10,000 was handed to the foundation during the Lichtjes voor Sophia (Lights for Sophia) event, which took place at the hospital on 7 December 2016.

At the graduation events for RSM’s BSc Bedrijfskunde and BSc International Business Administration (IBA) in November, drink tokens were sold after the ceremonies at the New Luxor Theater in Rotterdam. All proceeds from these token sales went to Vrienden van het Sophia (Friends of Sophia) foundation; a foundation that raises funds for the Erasmus MC-Sophia children’s hospital in Rotterdam.

Bridge between generations

The IBA graduates and their guests helped us to raise € 5,658, and the Dutch bachelor BA ceremony raised € 5,122. Together the RSM BSc graduates and their guests raised € 10,780 which was transferred in its entirety to the foundation.

At the Lichtjes voor Sophia event, Tessa van der Veer, Stella Li and Chantal de Groot from RSM’s bachelor programme management teams handed the cheque to Dr Marjon H. Cnossen, haematology paediatrician at Erasmus MC-Sophia, and Inge Valkis, head of fundraising of Vrienden van het Sophia. “This is a fantastic donation. We’ll make sure every euro is spent effectively,” said Valkis.

“We chose Vrienden van het Sophia because we wanted to raise money for a local foundation in Rotterdam,” says Stella Li, assistant programme manager of RSM’s BSc IBA. “Also, considering the milestone our graduates achieved, we wanted to create a bridge between them and our future generation.”

The Erasmus MC-Sophia children’s hospital will use the funds from the Lichtjes voor Sophia event to help children with sickle cell disease, a genetic, chronic and incurable illness which distorts the red blood cells into a crescent shape at low oxygen levels. It is commonest among people of African descent, and causes serious anaemia and painful attacks. Through innovative treatment methods, which can be improved with further research, Vrienden van het Sophia hopes to increase the life expectancy and improve the quality of life of people carrying this disease.

In addition to the donation from RSM’s graduates and their guests, people at the Lichtjes voor Sophia fundraising event could also sponsor lights in a Christmas tree, of which the funds went directly to the foundation too.

More information

Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) is one of Europe’s top-ranked business schools. RSM provides ground-breaking research and education furthering excellence in all aspects of management and is based in the international port city of Rotterdam – a vital nexus of business, logistics and trade. RSM’s primary focus is on developing business leaders with international careers who can become a force for positive change by carrying their innovative mindset into a sustainable future. Our first-class range of bachelor, master, MBA, PhD and executive programmes encourage them to become critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers. www.rsm.nl

For more information about RSM or this release, please contact Erika Harriford-McLaren, Media & Public Relations Manager for RSM, on +31 10 408 2877 or by email at harriford@rsm.nl.