WWU Students Honored at the Collegiate DECA International Conference

May 2, 2012

Contact: Shelly Durfey, president, WWU Collegiate DECA club at Rachelle.durfey@gmail.com.

BELLINGHAM – A team of students from Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics were named national finalists and McCall Schilling, a junior from Kenmore studying Marketing, was crowned national champion at the 2012 Collegiate DECA International Conference in Salt Lake City on April 24.

The Western Washington University Collegiate DECA Chapter sent 13 members with majors in Marketing, Management, Finance, Economics, Financial Economics and Communication to the national conference April 21-24.

Schilling took first place in the nation in the Hotel and Lodging category. She was the only student from Washington to finish in the top three in the nation.

The following are the official results for Western students at the Collegiate DECA International Conference:

  • McCall Schilling (Marketing) – National Champion in the Hotel and Lodging Management Category
  • Greg Pogue (Marketing) – National Finalist and a Top 10 finish in the Marketing Management Category
  • Hannah Norberg (Economics) – National Finalist and a Top 10 finish in the Marketing Management Category
  • The team of Andrea Georgopolos (Finance)  and Lori Healow (Marketing) – National Finalists and a Top 10 finish in the Sports and Entertainment Marketing Category
  • The team of Alex White (Marketing) and Spencer Martenson (Marketing) – National Finalists and a Top 10 finish in the Business to Business Marketing Category

The national competition is case-study-based and challenges the students to develop a solution to a business case during a 30-minute or one-hour preparation period. The students present the case solution to a panel of executives from the community serving as judges.

 “All of us at the College of Business and Economics are very happy for, and proud of, all the students who competed at the DECA conference,” said Brian Burton, dean of College of Business and Economics. “They truly represent our outstanding CBE students.”

The team was comprised of Shelly Durfey (Marketing, Sunnyside); Spencer Martenson, (Marketing, Bellevue); Alex White (Marketing, Seattle);  Hannah Norberg (Economics, Poulsbo); Tawny Kramer (Communication, Jacksonville, Fla.); Nick Maxwell (Financial Economics, Shoreline); Tony Yakovich, (Marketing and Communication, Woodinville); Greg Pogue  (Marketing, Redmond); Sandhya Velagapudi (Marketing, Issaquah); Lori Healow (Marketing, Juanita); Kaleb Ode,  (Management, Sumner); Andrea Georgopolos (Marketing, Kirkland) and McCall Schilling (Marketing, Kenmore).

Collegiate DECA is a student-driven organization that prepares students for careers by integrating skills learned in the classroom into real world experiences. Collegiate DECA conferences and other activities give students unique access to internships, scholarships, competition and professional networking.

For more information on Western Washington University’s Collegiate DECA Chapter, contact Shelly Durfey at Rachelle.durfey@gmail.com or visit http://wwudeca.com.