For the first time in Hillsdale College history, Students in Free Enterprise qualified for SIFE nationals. They will compete at the National Exposition in Kansas City, Mo., May 22 and 23.
On April 16 the team of 10 students travelled to Chicago, Ill., and competed against Cornerstone University, Illinois College, College of the Ozarks, Canisius College, and the University of Toledo.
A total of 375 SIFE teams competed at 12 separate regional competitions this spring. The regional competitions name two to three teams from each of the 10 leagues to advance to the national competition. Hillsdale will compete against universities of different sizes, including the University of Notre Dame.
To win the title, Hillsdale students gave a presentation of all of the club’s projects this year, including SIFE’s work with The Dawn Theater and the Aliaga Foundation.
Sophomore Jessi Pope said she felt confident after the team’s presentation, even though she realized that other teams were showcasing incredible projects.
“When I watched the other presentations, I felt my breath drop with every hard fact featured in bold on their slides: 30,000 endowments, 1,300 people impacted. It was a great feeling of triumph and confirmation when the judges read our name and we were given the trophy which represents the judges’ recognition of our success and our ticket to nationals,” she said.
The judges reviewed the outreach efforts of each team and determined which teams most improved the quality of life and standard of living for members of their community. The presentations were given in a 30-minute time block, with the bulk of the time for the teams’ presentations and five minutes for question-and-answer sessions.
The win at regionals puts the SIFE team on the road to being named the SIFE USA National Champions, who will be invited to represent the United States in a competition against countries all over the world at the SIFE World Cup, which takes place in Washington, D.C., from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2.
Sophomore Melika Willoughby said she is looking forward to competing at SIFE Nationals.
“I’m actually from Kansas City, so I’ll be thrilled to be welcoming our SIFE team to the city,” she said. “It’ll also be a great experience to meet with other teams from across the country and see what kind of an impact they’re making. The SIFE motto is ‘A head for business and a heart for the world,’ and we try to live up to that motto.”
