The utter dominance of the Collegiate DECA competition by William Woods University (WWU) continues.
For the first time, a Missouri university has been named state Collegiate DECA Chapter of the Year for five consecutive years, and that institution is William Woods. The WWU team once again claimed the honor at the Missouri Collegiate DECA annual conference, which took place virtually February 15 -19, becoming the first school ever to win the prestigious award five years in a row.
Around 100 Collegiate DECA participants attended the conference, representing 11 Missouri colleges and universities.
DECA (Distributive Education Clubs of America) is an organization that prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in the fields of marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. William Woods is one of 250 campuses around the world with a Collegiate DECA chapter.
The Missouri Collegiate DECA Chapter of the Year is determined by participation in the Leadership Passport Program, a scrapbook outlining chapter activities, and an interview conducted at the state conference. The Leadership Passport Program is a recognition program also hosted at the national level that honors Collegiate DECA chapters and individuals for completing activities in the categories of Academically Successful and Career Ready, Community Oriented, Professionally Responsible and Experienced Leaders.
“Having William Woods named DECA Collegiate Chapter of the Year for the fifth consecutive year, beating out teams from much larger universities in the process, is pretty remarkable,” said David Forster, Associate Professor of Business and Economics and DECA advisor at WWU. “Our success illustrates not only the outstanding quality of students we have, but also the exciting opportunities possible for someone who decides to attend The Woods.”
The WWU victory was highlighted by the duo of Kassidy Phillips ’24, who finished first in the Financial Accounting category, and Kaley Crocket ’24, who took third in the travel and tourism category. Also representing WWU at the competition were Liz Tamborski ’22, Jennah Schell ’22 and Grace Mauzy ‘24.
