It’s a friendly competition between top business schools for bragging rights, but the focus is on philanthropy and volunteerism.

Clad in GSM wear and awash with school spirit, more than 60 Graduate School of Management students descended on Stanford University on April 16 – 18, to participate in the MBA Challenge for Charity (C4C) Weekend. They joined more than 1,000 fellow MBA students from UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, UCLA, USC, the University of Washington and Stanford.

Founded in 1984 by Stanford MBA students, the MBA Challenge for Charity unites talent at top West Coast business schools to support Special Olympics and other family-related local charities.

A year ago, the GSM accepted an invitation to be the seventh school to participate in the competition. Each school is judged on its annual per-student volunteer hours, per-capita fundraising—benefiting Special Olympics and local charities—as well as the annual weekend athletic competition.

The GSM team proved to be a strong first-year contender. Since last May, GSM students volunteered nearly 400 hours—3.3 hours per student—at various Special Olympic and Sacramento Boys and Girls Club events. The chapter raised more than $5,000—an average of $43 per student—through fundraising efforts such as the Alumni Day Auction, last fall’s Walk for Gold, and the student lounge’s Honor Bar.

“When I first learned about C4C, I knew UC Davis should become a part of it,” said Jane Lee, who spearheaded the effort to establish a GSM chapter. “We are all thrilled that C4C has served to promote philanthropy and school spirit during this first year.”

Pej Azarm, current chairman of the School’s chapter, has started efforts to increase next year’s fundraising and volunteer levels, starting with the coordination of the opening ceremonies for the Special Olympics Track and Field Competition at UC Davis in May.

“We could not have achieved this level of success this year without the support of our donors, the faculty and staff, alumni and the commitment from the students,” he said. “We’re excited about growing this new tradition.”