A few months ago, I was working on a Student Life article in the Simon Courtyard when I overheard a rather obscene conversation. An upperclassman was interviewing someone for what seemed to be a business school organization, likely a business fraternity if I had to guess. Seeing as the courtyard was so silent and I was about 8 feet away from the pair, I was slightly eavesdropping into the interview. Given the circumstances, it would have been harder not to.

Most of the interview was fine. I learned some good information about what the underclassman would want to do if he had a year to do anything without being concerned about money, and who he’d want to have dinner with if he could choose anyone throughout history. But then the conversation shifted. It was around the time that the upperclassman asked the younger student why he wanted to go into the business world, to which the underclassmen responded that he enjoyed critical thinking. As good as that answer might have seemed at the time, it seemed almost angelic once the older student responded.

The older student first said that, essentially, he just wanted money. No Mother Teresa, but fine. He continued on his rationale, and that’s when things went south. The upperclassmen admitted to being aware of the fact that the world of finance he wants to join helps the rich get richer while taking from the poor, and he said he was fine with that as long as he was getting more wealthy. The younger student just laughed along.

I was appalled to hear a peer admit that they’re fine hurting underprivileged people as long as it benefits them. But this conversation alluded to something larger: What kind of toxic culture has people laughing along to incredibly overt inhumanity just to fit in?

Students need to check each other. No one should feel content in listening to what that student said, not to mention him feeling comfortable enough to say it out loud to someone else. Cultures where that kind of privileged and greed-fueled mentality exist breed people who go out into the world to take on jobs that exacerbate injustices and do little to bolster equity. This is not to say that most of the business school is made up of students like the one I heard. I’d surely hope and assume that this student is an anomaly. Yet seeing that younger student laugh along and thank his interviewer for his honesty makes me feel like this culture of unfettered greed is pervasive in certain segments of the school. It’s up to students to not propagate it and to quash it when they hear it.

This mentality shift requires thinking about what a truly fulfilling life consists of. A project done by Harvard Business School in 2013 asked members of its class of 1963 about their life lessons. These are people who have led incredibly successful business careers, who have walked through life with one of the most well respected business degrees that there are, people who have had doors opened to them that most could only dream about. Yet, Douglas T. Tansill—one of the alums from the class of 1963—said this: “There is no substitute for integrity. In a world where greed and taking shortcuts seem to be major themes, there is nothing that can replace one’s reputation. The ability to look back on life and say, ‘I did it the right way’ is a treasure. There is no do-over when you lose your integrity and reputation.”

What Tansill stated is something that is transferable to all of us. No amount of ethics courses in college could truly make someone believe that helping other people is a more fulfilling way to conduct oneself than living life with complete greed. That mentality can only come from evaluating what brings us fulfillment, and in the long run, it’s unlikely that endless amounts of money will bring someone true fulfillment. And even if you don’t believe me, a 19-year-old without a ton of life experience, if I were you, I’d believe the class of 1963, people who’ve lived through 4 of my lifetimes. So do good, even if it’s for the self-interested reason of wanting to feel good about your life. Remind others that lives of greed don’t move the needle much in terms of feeling satisfied and content. And, please, don’t laugh when people say they’re fine hurting vulnerable people.