JACKSON, April 19-- Union University's Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team captured its third consecutive regional championship during competition Wednesday in Memphis.
Union's team swept the regional awards competition, also capturing a third consecutive Halt the Deficit Award for projects geared toward educating the community about the national debt and a second consecutive Success 2000 Awards for projects targeting the economically disadvantaged. In addition to the awards, the team won $3,500 in prize money.
Upper-level executives from several Fortune 500 organizations judged the event, which drew a field a approximately 35 teams representing universities from across the Southern United States.
"We have completed more than 104 projects this year alone and are still pursuing other projects," Trey Brady, a SIFE team member and Union junior, said. This team is only three years old, so winning multiple awards for a third consecutive year is a major accomplishment."
One of Union's most eye-catching creations, SIFEman, turned many heads at the competition. "SIFEman, a business superhero," has proven tremendously effective in teaching area schoolchildren about free enterprise.
"SIFEman alone impressed many judges and helped team members meet potential employers," Brady said.
The team's performance earned Union a berth in SIFE's international competition May 20-21 in Kansas City, Mo., where they will compete in a field of 50 teams representing universities from across the United States and several foreign countries.
The team, which was named first runner-up in SIFE's 1995 international competition, hopes to improve upon last year's performance and take top honors in Kansas City.
"We think we have a good chance in this year's international competition; our projects are more in-depth than ever and there are more of them," Brady said.
Some of the Union team's key projects from the past year include Junior SIFE, a five-week project in which team members taught 25 area sixth and seventh grade classes basic free enterprise principles. Modeling their own organization, SIFE members then sponsored projects and competition among the 25 junior" teams in March.
Other successful projects include a Christians in the Workplace" seminar, the Champions for Today" lecture series with former Green Bay Packer All-Pro Mike McCoy, and a Winter Wonderland" rummage sale sponsored with Andrew Jackson Elementary School.
SIFE is an international, not-for-profit organization that promotes a better understanding and greater appreciation of the free enterprise system.
Comments and suggestions concerning this site should be forwarded to:
Last updated on April 22, 1996.
