A team of Eli Broad College of Business students won the Black History Month Multicultural Heroes Hall of Fame Case Competition February 21 with their powerful presentation arguing that Archbishop Desmond Tutu should be inducted into the Heroes Hall of Fame.
From left: Another participant claps as the first-place team of Victoria Zehner, Katlyn Ratzlaff, and Megan Mowid are honored.
The presentation detailed how Archbishop Tutu used his leadership position in the Anglican Church and non-violent methods to end apartheid in South Africa. Megan Mowid (BA Accounting ’19), Katlyn Ratzlaff (BA Business Preference ’21), and Victoria Zehner (BA Business Admitted ’20) created a video synchronized with their speaking presentation to explain how Archbishop Tutu continues to inspire activism today. This team representing the Women in Business Students’ Association received a $2,000 cash grand prize.
Second place in the competition went to Taylor Bickers (BA Marketing, International Relations ’18), Parker Bunton (BA Supply Chain Management ’19), and Alex Gomez (BA Supply Chain Management ’19), who presented on Jackie Robinson, the first African American to play Major League Baseball.
Alexander Babbit (BA English ’18), Ashley Nance-Panek (BA Human Biology ’19), and Mycala Smith (BA Zoology ’18) took third place with their presentation on civil rights activist Ella Josephine Baker.
Dr. Lee June reacts to the students’ presentations.
The student teams represented a diverse cross-section of MSU students from the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, College of Arts and Letters, College of Communication Arts and Sciences, Eli Broad College of Business, Lyman Briggs College, James Madison College, and the Honors College.
The MSU faculty panel judging the competition included Lee June, Honors College professor and former vice president for student affairs and services and associate provost for academic student services and multicultural issues; Paulette Granberry Russell, advisor to the president for diversity and director of MSU’s Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives; and Kathy Petroni, associate dean of undergraduate education and the Deloitte/Michael Licata Professor of Accounting in the Eli Broad College of Business.
Multicultural Business Programs and Altria Group Distribution Company sponsor the competition.
