Members of the University of the Ozarks' Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) team took home nine first-place, five second-place and seven third-place finishes to capture the overall Sweepstakes title in the 2014 Arkansas FBLA-PBL State Leadership Conference, held in Little Rock on April 11-12.
Competing against teams from 15 other state colleges and universities, the U of O team earned top individual category honors from Mary Wolfe and Megan Stewart (Chapter Theme: Scrapbook); Ryan Holt (Contemporary Sports Issues); Kurt Shemanske (Future Business Executive); Gabriela Pena (Public Speaking); Mandy Paz (Impromptu Speaking); Andrea Chamorro, Andrea Villafranca and Brianny Pupo (Marketing Analysis and Decision Making); Yeraldine Thomas (Marketing Concepts), Whitney Lewis (Organizational Behavior and Leadership); and Bryant Ford, Catalina Chen, Fernando Valenzuela, Liliam Lopez and Sierra Bates (Parliamentary Procedure).
U of O students who finished second in their respected categories included, Catalina Chen, Gerarado Navarrette, Phillip Jenkins, Ryan Smith, Ryan Pitchford and Mike Alfaro.
The University of the Ozarks’ PBL team took home the overall Sweepstakes trophy in the 2014 FBLA-PBL State Leadership Conference, held April 11-12 in Little Rock.
"We are so proud of everyone that attended and participated in this year’s PBL State Leadership Conference," said Ozarks Business Professor and PBL Faculty Advisor Cynthia Lanphear. "There were 32 Ozarks students that attended and a total of 46 students that actually competed. Winning the Sweepstakes trophy signifies that our chapter is the top chapter in Arkansas, which is a testament to how dedicated our students are to their academic disciplines and to their local PBL chapter. In addition to winning the academic competitions, there were awards of recognition and certificates of excellence given to the Community Service project, the chapter Scrapbook, and the Annual Business Report. Ozarks students work hard and they were duly recognized and rewarded."
Students who finished among the top three in the state competition are eligible to compete in the PBL National Leadership Conference in June in Nashville, Tenn.
"As President of Phi Beta Lambda, it was extremely rewarding to see the success of each of our members at this year’s PBL State Conference," said U of O PBL Chapter President Kurt Shemanske. "With the competitions ranging from individual tests, such as Impromptu Speaking and Management Principles, to group presentations like Marketing Analysis & Decision Making, our students were challenged throughout several disciplines. This year, we had 35 students place in the top five among students from around the state of Arkansas, with 20 of our members qualifying for the national competition. Our members could not have represented the University of the Ozarks any better, and it has been an honor to serve as the 2013-2014 PBL president."
Topics: Student Organizations