During a state Collegiate DECA competition in which East Mississippi Community College took home a school record number of awards, a local EMCC students was selected to one of the organization’s top two posts.
Dalton Robison of Batesville, who is a sophomore on EMCC’s Scooba campus, was named the Mississippi Collegiate DECA president. Ackerman resident Clayton Forrester, a sophomore at the Golden Triangle campus, will serve as DECA vice president, with Dalton Robison of Batesville being named DECA president.
“State DECA officers must pass a rigorous test and undergo an interview to qualify for the positions,” EMCC Business and Marketing Management Technology instructor Dr. Joshua Carroll said. “Then, there is a vote by delegates representing all of the colleges and universities across the state. These are prestigious posts and it is an honor to have two of our students selected.”
Collegiate DECA is a national organization for college students preparing for a variety of career areas, with emphasis in the areas of marketing, management, merchandising and entrepreneurship. Its local chapters and state/provincial associations are a division of National DECA, Inc. Collegiate DECA, previously known as Distributive Education Clubs of America, is currently active throughout the U.S. and Canada.
This term marks the first that EMCC has offered Business and Marketing Management Technology courses at the Scooba campus.
“The fact that we just stood up the program at Scooba and have a student there elected to serve as the state Collegiate DECA president is remarkable,” Carroll said.
Robison and Forrester were elected to the posts during the Mississippi Collegiate DECA Career Development Conference Feb. 1 at Hinds Community College’s Rankin campus. The annual conference features statewide competitions between DECA members from throughout the state.
During the competition, 33 EMCC students qualified to represent the state of Mississippi April 11-14 in the Collegiate DECA International Career Development Conference at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, Va.
More than 1,000 Collegiate DECA students will compete in the international championships in categories such as Business Management and Administration, Entrepreneurship, Finance and Accounting, Hospitality and Tourism, and Marketing and Communications.
EMCC DECA members earned a shot at the national championships by placing in the top five in their competition categories in the state competition.
The students brought home a combined 39 trophies, taking first place in five categories; second place in five categories; third place in seven categories; fourth place in four categories; and fifth place in four categories.
“I am really proud of our students’ accomplishments in the DECA competition,” Carroll said. “This represents the most awards the EMCC chapter of DECA has won since its inception in 1976. From what we are told, this is the most awards won by a single college in more than seven years.”
Local EMCC winners in the state Collegiate DECA competition are:
First place, Entrepreneurship: Clayton Forrester of Ackerman, William Janssen of Ackerman
Third place, International Marketing: Clayton Forester of Ackerman, and William Janssen of Ackerman
