A-State Wins Big in Phi Beta Lambda Virtual Leadership Event
JONESBORO – Students from Arkansas State University claimed 39 top five finishes at the Phi Beta Lambda virtual leadership conference recently. In addition, the group is eligible to represent Arkansas in 36 competitive events at the 2020 PBL National Leadership Conference, scheduled to be held in Salt Lake City beginning June 24.
The entire 2020-21 state of Arkansas PBL leadership team will be from A-State, marking the first time in the history of Arkansas Phi Beta Lambda that all state officers will be from one college or university.
“The students have continued to live up to the expectations in state and national competitions set out by the previous members of A-State PBL,” stated Dr. Philip Tew, associate professor of finance and A-State PBL chapter adviser. “Each year the other advisers and myself are impressed at the students’ performances, especially those first-year students who step in and compete and win at the competitions. They help continue the A-State tradition of excellence in Phi Beta Lambda.”
Finishing first in their competitive events are Armaan Dharani of Jonesboro, accounting analysis and decision-making; Melanie Ricker of Corning, accounting for professionals and multimedia display; the team of Bailey Dunn of Marked Tree, Hailey Hawkins of Searcy, and Ashley Watson of Paragould, business ethics; the team of Tyrell Andrews of Marked Tree, Kristina Garlington of Bryant, and Julia Hudspeth of Lepanto, business law; Ben Tinsley of Jonesboro, cost accounting; Rachel Washam of Jonesboro, financial services and strategic analysis and decision-making.
Also finishing first include Kasey Williams of Jonesboro, help desk; Taylor Shields of Marion, human resource management; Julia Hudspeth, justice administration; the team of Alex Young of Jonesboro and Bailey Dunn, management analysis and decision-making; the team of Matthew Collins of Marion, Wanya Strickland of West Memphis, and Andy Ezell of Searcy, marketing analysis and decision-making; Ashley Watson, microeconomics; Alex Young, organizational behavior and leadership; the team of Tyrell Andrews, Dustin Ogden of Manila, Brenna Cannon of Manila, Hailey Hawkins, and Kelsey Rohr of Mountain Home, parliamentary procedure; Quynh Ho of Danang, Vietnam, programming concepts; and the team of Kristina Garlington and Kassidy Walker of Malden, Mo., social media challenge.
Second-place finishers include the team of Jacob Walker of Paragould, Jared Barham of Paragould, and Matthew Collins, accounting analysis and decision-making; Dustin Ogden, community service project; the team of Jacob Walker, Jared Barham, and Ahad Sanjrani of Dallas, economic analysis and decision-making; Meghan Cantara of Jonesboro, hospitality management and organizational behavior and leadership; Roxana Flores of Jonesboro, justice administration; Abbigail Hicks of Jonesboro, management concepts; Ben Tinsley, personal finance; and J. Mark Lewis of Jonesboro, sports management and marketing.
The following students placed third in their competitive events and those with an asterisk have qualified for the national leadership conference along with all first and second-place finishers — Naumann Jiwani* of Jonesboro, computer concepts; J. Mark Lewis*, contemporary sports issues); the team of Ahad Sanjrani, Abbigail Hicks, and Andy Ezell, management analysis and decision-making; Taylor Shields*, marketing concepts; Armaan Dharani* personal finance; Alexus Leonard* of Corning, programming concepts; and Naumann Jiwani*, statistical analysis.
Fourth-place finishers are Melanie Ricker, organizational behavior and leadership; and Quynh Ho statistical analysis.
The A-State PBL Chapter was recognized as the Gold Chapter for Arkansas and won the outstanding chapter award for winning the most awards at the state leadership conference. Hailey Hawkins
was named Arkansas Phi Beta Lambda member of the year for her philanthropy work throughout the 2019-20 academic year.
The 2020-21 Arkansas Phi Beta Lambda officer team consists of parliamentarian Tyrell Andrews, chief programming officer Meghan Cantara, chief information officer Melanie Ricker, chief financial officer Alexus Leonard, and chief executive officer/president Rachel Washam.
The local chapter advisers for the A-State Phi Beta Lambda chapter are Sheena Gammon, instructor in accounting and computer information technology; Patricia Robertson, professor of business law and chair of the Department of Economics and Finance; Kerry Tew, first-year student support coordinator for the Neil Griffin College of Business; and Philip Tew, associate professor of finance.
The advisers for the Arkansas Phi Beta Lambda state chapter are Philip Tew and Kerry Tew.
