HBU’s SIFE students win at regionals
3/19/2008
Houston Baptist University’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team won First Runner-Up at the regional competition in Dallas. The team included Rebekah Cuellar, HBU SIFE president; Milica Vasiljevic; Phuong Tran; Ivana Djordjevic, Anthony Obodechina; Raymond Tran; Jay Bezerra and Sue Y'Barbo. Dr. Marty Bressler is the SIFE advisor.
SIFE is an international organization at universities in more than 20 countries around the globe and is sponsored by a number of major corporations, including Wal Mart, Best Buy, Campbell’s Soups, Nestle-Purina, Frito Lay, and J.C. Penney. SIFE teams actively engage the community through service learning projects that incorporate market economics, personal success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and business ethics.
This year, HBU’s SIFE team completed three projects. Students worked with Gracewood Ministries, a residential facility for divorced women and their families seeking to rebuild their lives, to teach residents success skills for the workplace and how to rebuild their credit. SIFE team members also worked at the YMCA facility at the Oaks Apartments in Houston, where they taught children entrepreneurship skills and donated money back to the YMCA facility. Finally, the SIFE students organized a business clothing drive. Working with other HBU student organizations, the team was able to collect more than 500 clothing items appropriate for job interviews and professional work environments. These were sent to area shelters for distribution.
Houston Baptist University is experiencing dynamic growth as it moves forward with a new vision. As a Christian university offering fully accredited undergraduate and graduate programs, HBU provides a solid liberal arts education with a focus on the integration of faith and learning. The University has been ranked in the top tier among “Best Universities” offering master’s degrees in the Western region by U.S. News & World Report in its America’s Best Colleges for 2007 edition.
