For 24 years, Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) has been an active and influential part of University of the Ozarks campus community. The global service organization announced at the end of last month that it has changed its name to Enactus.
Ana Hernandez, from Honduras, is a senior management and environmental studies major and president of Ozarks’ Enactus chapter. Hernandez expressed optimism about the future of the long-standing organization.
"SIFE is now called Enactus, which stands for entrepreneurs in action. I believe what SIFE wanted to do reaffirm their commitment to entrepreneurial action. An entrepreneur is an individual that creates capital through innovation, creativity, and risk. That’s what we did in SIFE, and what we’ll continue to do in Enactus," Hernandez explained.
For over two decades, SIFE has been actively serving Ozarks and the surrounding community. The mission of SIFE has always been to impact their community in meaningful and lasting ways, and despite mixed reactions about the name change, Hernandez sees a bright future.
"Organization members were unsure about the name at first, but we’ve had a little bit of time to get used to it. In the end, our mission is the same and that’s what matters most," Hernandez said.
"Each year, all over the world, members of SIFE create over 1,000 new projects to creatively address needs in their communities," she added. "Entrepreneurship is what SIFE is about, which is why the name change makes sense. It just refocuses the attention on entrepreneurial action."
Hernandez, as president of the newly re-christened organization, has her work cut out for her on campus.
"We are trying to create awareness of the name change," she said. "That is the biggest challenge, just changing something that has been around for so long. The next few months will be difficult as we make the transition, because we’ll have to incorporate both names to help people understand that we are the same group. It will take some time for everyone to get comfortable using the new name."
Hernandez stressed that while the name of the organization may have changed, the heart of the group will stay the same. The impact they make on campus and throughout the community will not change.
"In the end, Enactus has the same mission," she said. "When you think of SIFE, it’s not the name you remember but our impact on the community. That will be exactly the same. It’s just the name that has changed."
Topics: Student Organizations