Press Release

Revolutionary Undergraduate Microfinance Course

ATLANTA – This semester at Oglethorpe University 20 students are enrolled in Special Topics in Economics: Seminar on Microfinance and Social Investing. This is the only undergraduate course on Microfinance being offered in the country. The class includes international students and students from Agnes Scott College and Emory University.

As a part of the course, leaders in Microfinance come to Oglethorpe and participate in interactive seminars that are free and open to the public. The seminars examine the role that microfinance, as popularized by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mohammad Yunus, has played in lifting millions out of poverty.

The course is a result of a unique collaboration between Atlanta-based Gray Matters Capital and Oglethorpe University. In addition to gaining insights into the causes and scope of poverty, students will analyze underlying economic theories related to growth and development. Additionally, students will have an opportunity to interact with micro-lenders and micro-enterprises in the Atlanta area and develop a service learning project. The students’ final project requires them to propose how they would invest $5 million in a microfinance institution or social enterprise.

Upcoming seminars include:

• Thursday, February 21, 2008 - Donna Rohling: The Role of the Investor, Earl Dolive Theater, Philip Weltner Library, Oglethorpe University, 4:30 p.m. Donna Rohling is on the program committee of the Grameen Foundation and is a member of Women Advancing Microfinance.
•  Thursday, February 28, 2008 - Panel: Gender and Microfinance, Lupton Auditorium, Lupton Hall, Oglethorpe University, 4:30 p.m. Astrid Pregel, president of Feminomics, Inc., and Jody Stephenson ’03, CPA for the Children of the Nation-USA, will present.
• Thursday, March 6, 2008 - Joseph J. Iarocci: Health and Microfinance, Lupton Auditorium, Lupton Hall, Oglethorpe University, 4:30 p.m. Joseph J. Iarocci is the senior vice president and finance and chief financial officer for CARE.
• Thursday, March 13, 2008 - Panel: Education and Microfinance – Past and Future, Earl Dolive Theater, Philip Weltner Library, Oglethorpe University, 4:30 p.m. Robert A. Pattillo, founder of the Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund, Genia Topple, director at Rockdale Foundation, and Dr. Shoumi Mustafa, post-doctoral researcher at The Ohio State University, will present.
• Thursday, March 27, 2008 - Panel: Microfinance and Microenterprise in the U.S., Lupton Auditorium, Lupton Hall, Oglethorpe University, 4:30 p.m. Grace Fricks, president and CEO of Appalachian Community Enterprises, Patricia Harris, executive director and CEO of The EDGE Connection (Empowering and Developing Georgia’s Entrepreneurs), and Miguel Granier, president of Microcapital Consulting, will present.
• Thursday, April 10, 2008 - Robert A. Pattillo: The Dark Side of Microfinance, Earl Dolive Theater, Philip Weltner Library, Oglethorpe University, 4:30 p.m. Robert A. Pattillo is the founder of the Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund.