During spring break, as many Union students were on the beach sunbathing and relaxing or visiting with their families and friends at home, a few students were in Cincinnati, Ohio, participating in an Enactus national convention, a three-day event in which Union’s chapter was a finalist in day one’s opening round.
Members then progressed to the second day of competition and placed second — meaning the team placed in the top 40 out of more than 200 teams.
Enactus is a campus organization in which students of all majors can take part, whose mission is “to bring together the top leaders of today and tomorrow to create a better, more sustainable world through the positive power of business.”
From fundraising with student care packages to reducing waste through the campus’ new rehydration stations, Enactus consistently provides students at Union with the opportunity to develop valuable professional skills through many projects benefiting the Union community.
The projects are geared towards achieving goals within the national Enactus criteria.
Even though the team did not make it to the third day of competition, it made much progress from the previous years at nationals. Last year the team placed in the top 50.
“Each year, Union Enactus works hard to become a stronger organization,” said the organization’s secretary and junior business major Tricia Taylor. “As a result, we are continually placing higher at Nationals.”
The future of Enactus at Union is bright, said faculty adviser Brooke Emery. “Enactus has a lot to offer the Union and Jackson communities,” she said.
Even though Matthew Street, a senior business major, will be graduating this year and will no longer be competing with the team, he agrees with Emery.
The organization will continue on to do great things, he said, adding that its many young members have “great ideas for the future direction of Enactus.”
Each person who attended the national competition presented a project, one of whom was junior international business major, Denis Bisangwa.
“We met many CEOs, some got job offers, we placed well, and we had a lot of fun,” Bisangwa said.
In all, seven projects were presented.
