MBAs Wander Minecraft-Like Campus for Covid-Era Networking

When Grégoire Gloriod joined the master’s program at Neoma, a business school with sites in three French cities, he enjoyed the academics but found himself savoring the social aspect of campus life even more. He attended lectures and mixers, met people from around the world, and did his share of partying. Then Covid-19 hit, and suddenly all that was left were the marketing, accounting, and other classes on his computer screen. “The biggest miss is the moment between classes,” says Gloriod, who graduates in 2023. “That’s the point where you can meet classmates, drink coffee, and talk about life.”

A key selling point of business schools is their ability to bring together students of various nationalities and backgrounds, who forge friendships in the hallways and lounges that pay dividends decades later. “The network is a close second, if not as important as the academic experience,” says Minya Nance, assistant dean for student experience strategy at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. But in an era of online learning, MBA students are struggling to make such connections—spurring schools around the world to develop new avenues to those crucial relationships via virtual campuses, Slack channels, and Zoom roadshows.