Our Current Cover Girl, Chika Ike, Speaks On The Harvard Controversy

 

The internet has been abuzz since Chika Ike announced her acceptance into one of Harvard’s Executive Business Programmes, Program for Leadership Development (PLD).

Yesterday, the actress announced on Instagram that she had been accepted into Harvard after being rejected for 5 years.

In the post, Chika Ike said she just got her admission to do her “Masters” and she even used the hashtag – #EMBA (meaning Executive MBA).

This move by the actress has caused a lot of controversy. Many people have taken to social media to express their opinion on the authenticity of the actresses’ claims. Some people have said that Harvard does not offer an eMBA, and that the Program for Leadership Development is not a “Masters” or an eMBA, like the actress claimed.

To clear up the issue, TW went to Harvard’s website to do some digging. We looked at the profile for the Program for Leadership Development.

Here is what we found.

According to Harvard,

“As an alternative to an executive MBA program, Harvard Business School offers an accelerated learning experience that transforms the world’s most promising managers into the next generation of powerful leaders—the Program for Leadership Development (PLD). Unlike an eMBA, PLD is tailored to your unique leadership needs and organizational challenges. One-on-one professional coaching and a personal case study, a dynamic interchange in a diverse yet intimate living group, and full-time HBS faculty.

Often compared to a rapid-fire MBA, PLD is designed for managers and functional specialists with approximately 10 to 15 years of experience who are considered to be high-potential executives.”

From the website, it is clear that though the Program for Leadership Development is not an EMBA, the school states that “it is an alternative to an EMBA.”

Here is a screen shot from the website below.

TW reached out to Chika Ike to help clear the air on the controversy.

Here is what she had to say:

“Yes, I got accepted into Harvard… been trying for 5 years…. Harvard is very competitive, even with the Executive study as they are very selective with their acceptance. But I am someone who is very persistent especially when I want something so bad. It just had to be Harvard and I wanted a convenient study program where I can work and school, and God made it happen.

I’ve also learnt something from this Harvard admission: Never give up. I can’t wait to start my online lecture of my module 1. I will be in Boston on campus before the end of the year to meet with my Lecturer and other participants for few weeks in an interactive study session. It will be quiet an intimidating class because they are not regular students but Executives and owner of multi million dollars companies but I know I’ll pull through and contribute my own quota. I’m super excited.”

When we asked her what she thought of the controversy, Chika Ike said, “You know people now… they will doubt anything even if it is right in front of them.”

So, what do you think about the issue?

Do you think people are making a big deal out of nothing or do you think they have a point?

Let us know in the comments section below.