SIFE Press Release

Contact:  Southwest Texas State University Students in Free Enterprise Team Advisor: Vicki West - 512-245-3224 or President: Jeff Lynn 512-757-3014

(San Marcos, Texas 5/15/03) - A group of enterprising college students representing Southwest Texas State University participated at the 2003 SIFE USA National Exposition, sponsored by the Kansas City Business Community, May 11-13 in Missouri.

The Southwest Texas State University SIFE Team competed against more than 186 teams representing more than 2400 students from around the country.  Earlier in the year, each team competed and won at one of the twenty-one regional competitions.  The Southwest Texas State University  SIFE Team was named Regional Champion at the Dallas, Texas SIFE Regional Competition held on April 10, 2003.

During national competition, SIFE Teams presented 24-minute multi-media summaries of the educational outreach projects they developed and implemented throughout the year.  They were judged by panels drawn from more than 750 of the nation's top business and community leaders.  The Southwest Texas State University SIFE Team placed in the Sensational 16 at the competition from a field of over 1300 universities. Drury University captured first place honors in the USA National Competition.

In addition to the competition, students had the opportunity to interview for jobs and internships during a two-day Career Opportunity Fair with representatives from more than 40 companies.  Southwest Texas State students were very successful at the Career Fair, many times interviewing with student alumni from previous years.  Some of the companies participating were 3M, Accenture, Del Labs, Hallmark Cards and many of the Fortune 200.

Southwest Texas State University and the University of Florida were the top award winners in the Special Competitions category.  Out of 8 Special Competitions sponsored by America's leading corporations, Southwest Texas were in the finals for 5 of the competitions, capturing 2 first place honors and 1 third place honor.  They won first place in the Polsky Personal Investing Competition and first place in Teaching K-12 Utilizing the Internet Competition.  The College of Education, under the leadership of Barbara Davis, was extremely helpful in the development and implementation of the K-12 competition.

The Special Competition entries describe specific projects and are panel judged by corporate executives. With the growth of SIFE teams increasing from 770 in 2000 to over 1300 participating universities in 2003, placing in the finals is increasingly noteworthy. 

President Jeff Lynn of the SWT SIFE Team says, "I am extremely proud of our program, of the students and all of their hard work.  I am looking forward to the coming year so we can continue to develop and refine our projects."  The Sam Walton Fellow for SWT SIFE, Vicki West, says, "One of the most rewarding portions of the SIFE experience is the excellent corporate opportunities these top students receive after their involvement with the SIFE organization."

Founded in 1975 and active on more than 1000 college and university campuses in 30 countries, SIFE is a non-profit organization that works in partnership with business and higher education to provide college students the opportunity to make a difference and to develop leadership, teamwork and communication skills through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise.  For more information contact Professor Vicki West at 512-245-3224 or SIFE World Headquarters at 1-800-677-SIFE or visit either www.SIFE.org or www.swtsife.com.