On Jan. 15-16, 2016, undergraduate students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business competed in the 5th Annual Kelley School of Business National Diversity Case Competition and came away as champions of their competition bracket and competition finalists, ranking top 5 of 35.
NDCC is a premier event that brings together top-level, diverse talent from colleges and universities across the country. The event included a networking reception and dinner, case competition and workshops. Corporate partners had the opportunity to recruit students by judging the case competition, presenting workshops and participating in the networking reception.
Yvette Yu, Foluke Tuakli, Dini Choudhary, and Damon King of Smith's Diversity Empowerment Council (DEC) represented the Smith School. Thirty-five universities participated in the competition with 140 students in attendance. There were 21 corporate partners.
“We fronted the largest majority of the work before arriving, focusing our efforts on how Target can promote, leverage or create initiatives that actively engage LGBT millennials,” said King. “This was my first case competition experience as well as Smith’s first time attending, so it was an amazing learning experience. The judges made themselves exceedingly available and were there to encourage, educate and inspire all the participants. They thoroughly enjoyed our team’s creativity and positive energy. I got the opportunity to connect with employers from Ford, EY and Abercrombie and Fitch. My favorite part of the experience was being surrounded by such a diverse group of university students who were intelligent, passionate and open-minded.”
The Diversity Empowerment Council seeks to represent and expand diversity within Smith with a focus on strengthening unity and student integration. Through cooperation from senior leaders at Smith, the DEC mission is to lead efforts in empowering current and prospective Smith students, by unifying the presence of diversity, and facilitating connections between university administration and the student body, further providing sustainable services to add value to the community.
If you are interested in joining the council, email: dec.rhsmith@gmail.com.
- Alissa Arford, Office of Marketing Communications
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About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.