Four business students' efforts to merge community service with
capitalism have earned them a trip to Dallas, Texas, next month, where they will compete with like-minded students from around the country.
The students, Katie Douglas '07, Nick Anzalone '07, Brittany Gorman '08 and Regina Silva '08, are leaders of Saint Anselm College's Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) chapter. Established this academic year under the guidance of Thomas Fitzpatrick, assistant professor of economics and business, the organization was founded with the mission to "be engaged in our community and to make a difference in our world, using the ideals of a free market society."
Last month, the students presented their projects to a panel of 18 judges at a regional SIFE gathering in Boston. SIFE holds 20 regional competitions where over 500 teams compete for a national invitation. Not only did the Saint Anselm team win the Rookie of the Year Award, they also were named Regional Champions, which carries a $1,500 prize for their chapter, along with the team from Syracuse University. In fact, it was Syracuse that inspired the Saint Anselm team to intensify their effort.
"After seeing their phenomenal presentation we all looked over at each other, got up, and literally ran to our room to practice again," Douglas said.
"One quote that we lived by for our situation at the competition was, 'It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog,' " Anzalone said.
Next they will compete at the SIFE National Exposition, from May 6 to 8, in Dallas, Texas. There, 160 colleges and universities will vie for the opportunity to go to the World Cup competition against 40 nations.
The students presented on their chapter's first year projects. SIFE members taught Merrimack High School freshmen the value of business ethics and a free market using Junior Achievement's Titan computer program, which allowed the high schoolers to make decisions like a CEO.
SIFE also sponsored the Corporate Social Responsibility Symposium, with Mike Dupee, vice president of Green Mountain Coffee; Erika Staas, an advocate from Environment New Hampshire; David Beane, vice president of Turner Construction, and other speakers. About 100 students and faculty members attended the symposium. They also launched a newsletter.
In the future, SIFE members will be mentoring sixth to eighth graders in partnership with the Young Heroes program run by City Year. There also are plans to run a personal finance seminar for high school students and a micro-lending project in Latin America.
The chapter plans to raise money by creating and selling the Common Man Apprentice Competition Cookbook, with recipes developed by Saint Anselm students in competition with Plymouth State University students. Katie Douglas, who is leading the project, led one of the winning teams in last semester’s Common Man competition.
"SIFE is the means by which I am able to share the knowledge I obtain at Saint Anselm College and translate it into real world changes in my immediate community," said Gorman.
Photo
SIFE team members, from left, Brittany Gorman '08, Regina Silva '08, Nick Anzalone '07 and Katie Douglas '07 say they got to know each other well while preparing for the regional competition in Boston.