2020 College of Business Student team takes 4th place at the National Diversity Case Competition!
A team of four Minnesota State Mankato College of Business students took 4th place out of 42 universities at the 9th Annual National Diversity Case Competition held at Indiana University on Jan 17-18, 2020. The team comprised of Shams Adediji (Finance), Marilyn Allen (American Indigenous Studies & Business Law), Michelle Dolezal (Marketing) and Dhaval Bhakta (Management) was the only team in the competition from Minnesota.
The National Diversity Case Competition is sponsored by 3M and Indiana University’s Kelly School of Business. This year’s competition challenged teams to propose STEM education programming for under-resourced and underrepresented youth communities. After significant research and meeting with tribal elders and students from two South Dakota Native American communities, Minnesota State Mankato’s team developed a plan to implement 3M’s STEM programming to seven regional tribal communities. Based on discussions with and recommendations from Flandreau tribal elders and students, the team proposed an intensive one-week STEM summer camp at a regional university, a 3M mentor-based project throughout the fall that culminates in presentations at 3M’s headquarters in Woodbury, MN, and reinvestment by 3M in the community. The program would focus on the specific needs of the tribal community such as solar power, drone technology to track the bison population, clean water, and hemp housing.
On their way to 4th place, Minnesota State Mankato bested several national universities in head-on competition including the Univ. of Texas Austin, Univ. of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Univ. of Arizona, Syracuse Univ., Univ. of Vermont, Brigham Young Univ., Temple Univ., and Rutgers Univ. Newark. This is the sixth year that the College of Business team has competed in the competition. Notably, Minnesota State Mankato and the host team, Indiana University, are the only two teams to reach the final round of competition in two of the last three years.
This year’s team was coached by professors Wade Davis (Business Law) and Oksana Kim (Accounting). To speak to the Minnesota State Mankato students or learn more about the competition, contact Wade Davis at wade.davis@mnsu.edu or (507)345-2207.
