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MSU MBA students win GMAC philanthropy award |
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Monday, 20 July 2009 |
By SARA JURNEY
For the Daily News
Countless hours of studying, group meetings and work are done every day by the Masters in Business Administration students at Mississippi State University.
Another element that was added this year to some of these student’s agendas was community service. In the beginning of the spring semester, the Masters in Business Administration Association (MBAA) joined a worldwide competition sponsored by GMAC called “Team MBA.”
The goal of the competition was to do as many community service projects in the month of April as possible.
Mississippi State’s group sought out all the needs in the community and quickly worked to fulfill them.
In that short month, Mississippi State’s MBA team worked with Habitat for Humanity, collected animal supplies for the local animal shelter, built steps for the Salvation Army trucks, raised money for the Palmer Children’s home through a hot dog sale and “Grumpy’s Night” and the end of April offered the most lucrative event for the team when Dr. Joel Collier’s strategic marketing class participated in the Bulldog Challenge.
The challenge involved the students using their marketing skills to sell cookies to raise money for the United Way.
Through the five different group’s creativity and desire to win, the entire class raised over $7,000 that went to Starkville’s United Way.
“The Bulldog Challenge tested many different marketing skills,” said student Jason Caswell. “We had to convince people to leave work to buy a cookie that they could get at any store around town. We worked really hard on the project and were really excited about how much money we raised for the United Way.”
The GMAC conference asks MBA groups around the country to submit the one project that they found to be the most rewarding and helpful to the community.
All of Mississippi State’s charity projects were important and meaningful, but the Bulldog Challenge brought in the most money.
“Our group worked hard on all our community service events, but the one that provided a large amount of money to a charity was the Bulldog Challenge”, said group leader Tosin Alli. “That is the project we sent in for the conference. All the MBA students in that class worked hard to raise the money.”
Through all of its community endeavors, Mississippi State’s MBAA group was selected as a finalist for the yearly conference held by GMAC.
Over 48 schools were given notice to attend the event in hopes of taking home an award. Mississippi State’s MBA group sent two students, Tosin Alli and Jennifer Adams to represent the group in Baltimore, Maryland.
“Being selected as a finalist put Mississippi State University on the map”, said Adams. “It was an honor to be selected along with all the prestigious schools who were involved.”
The conference was a one day event to award a handful of schools for their volunteer efforts. During the award luncheon, Mississippi State’s MBA group was awarded the “Service Award for Philanthropy.”
“We were really excited to bring home an award,” said Alli. “I had such a great group of people to work with and we accomplished so much throughout the community.”
A total of six awards were given out at the ceremony. There were over 3,800 students who attended the ceremony hoping for an award and Mississippi State’s MBA group did not leave the conference empty handed.
“This was our first year to volunteer in the team MBA effort and we brought home an award,” said Adams. “I was really honored to be there and enthusiastic to bring home an award. I am motivated to get more people involved and help twice as many people next year.”
The MBA group plans on participating in the event in the upcoming years. There is always a need for community service and Mississippi State’s MBA students are dedicated to fulfilling the local community’s needs.
Through the countless hours of studying and working these MBA students do receive a quality education. The ones that participate in the community service events gain a rewarding experience that goes beyond their degrees.
Once these students go out into the real world they will carry a great sense of business knowledge along with compassion for the needs of others.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 21 July 2009 )
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