Wofford College his pleased to announce a productive spring filled with top honors and big wins for students.
Wofford team wins CFA Institute Research Challenge Southern Classic
A team of Wofford students won the CFA Institute Research Challenge Southern Classic. The team competed against 11 other colleges and universities, mostly students in MBA programs, from Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, in an investment analysis competition that included a 10-page written report, two 10-minute presentations and two 10-minute question-and-answer sessions with panels of five Chartered Financial Analysts.
In the final round Wofford defeated MBA teams from Clemson University, Emory University and the University of Georgia. All teams analyzed the publicly traded chemical company Axiall Corp.
The Wofford team now will compete in the national competition in April against the winners of the other regional competitions. Members of the Wofford team are Victoria DaSilva ’15 of East Greenwich, R.I.; Katherine Donzella ’15 of Greenville, S.C.; John Estes ’15 of Carlisle, Pa.; Al Kelly ’16 of Akron, N.Y.; and Whit McLeod ’15 of Summerville, S.C. Their adviser is Dr. Michael Merriman, assistant professor of accounting and finance.
Old Gold and Black student newspaper wins SCPA awards
The Old Gold and Black student newspaper won seven awards, including three first-place recognitions, in the 2015 South Carolina Press Association (SCPA) Collegiate Competition. Wofford competed in the non-daily category. The following students earned awards: Addie Lawrence ’16 of Duluth, Ga., won first place in the arts and entertainment category for her story “Adventures in Albania.” She also placed second in the news story category for “Have a little pride.” Elaine Best ’16 of Dayton, Ohio, won first place for her column, “Need a little black and blue” and second place in the arts and entertainment category for “How to be a Lesbian in 10 days or less at Wofford.” Sara Frances Koontz ’15 of Cheraw, S.C., won third place for her editorial “I want to ride my bicycle.” The Old Gold and Black also garnered first-place recognition for its “back-to-school” edition as well as honorable mention for its new website woffordoldgoldandblack.com. Sari Imber ’15, the Old Gold and Black’s editor, is from San Antonio, Texas.
WoCoders finish second in Mercer Spring Programming Competition
Wofford’s programming team, the WoCoders, finished second in its division in the Mercer Spring Programming Competition held at Mercer University in Atlanta. The team finished the five-hour competition behind the Mercer Binary Bears A team. The WoCoders and Binary Bears A teams each completed six of 15 problems successfully. Only 13 penalty points separated the two teams.
The WoCoders finished ninth among all of the 27 teams that competed in four divisions. Team members are Mayfield Reynolds ’15 of Spartanburg; Billy Fahey ’16 of Mountain Brook, Ala.; and Daniel Couch ’17 of Columbia, S.C. Their adviser is Dr. David Sykes, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science.
Trojan ’15 claims Palmetto Chinese Star title
Students in Wofford’s Chinese Language and Culture Program brought home six awards from the Sixth Palmetto Chinese Star Competition. Travis Trojan ’15 of Drayton, S.C., was the Palmetto Chinese Star Winner and will represent South Carolina in the regional competition this April. Trojan dominated both Language Proficiency and Cultural Proficiency in the Advanced Level and won first place in both.
Michael Daly ’15 of Gaffney, S.C., won third place (second prize) in both Language Proficiency and Cultural Proficiency in the Advanced Level. Anna Wilson ’18 of Fort Mill, S.C., and Christopher McMillen ’18 of Fredericksburg, Va., won third place (second prize) for Language Proficiency at the Elementary Level Competition.
The Palmetto Chinese Star is a statewide competition that allows Chinese language learners to demonstrate their language and cultural proficiency. The competition is in its sixth year, and Wofford College has earned four of six opportunities to represent South Carolina in the regional competition. Additionally, Wofford has taken home two Future Palmetto Star Awards. The team’s adviser is Dr. Yongfang Zhang, assistant professor in Chinese.
Hicks ’16 finalist for Truman Scholarship
Donovan Hicks ’16 of Spartanburg has moved on to the finalist round of interviews for a Harry S. Truman Scholarship. Winners will be announced April 15. Hicks, a government and finance major, also recently was one of 10 people admitted as a 2015 Public Policy and International Affairs Law Fellow at the University of California Berkeley this summer.
Hicks is a Bonner Scholar at Wofford, providing 140 service hours per semester to South Carolina Legal Services. He also is vice president of Wofford Campus Union student government organization and director of Student to Student (S2S), a local community service initiative at Boiling Springs High School that aims at positioning students so that college is an option for them. He also does service work at Reformed University Fellowship (RUF), a Christian outreach ministry on campus.
Hicks plans to attend law school, seeking a dual degree in law and public policy, in hopes of working on issues of education policy.
Quiz Bowl team invited to NAQT Intercollegiate Championship Tournament
Based on Wofford’s Quiz Bowl team’s performance at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments (NAQT) Southeastern Sectionals in which it finished second behind the University of Georgia, the team was invited to take part in the NAQT Intercollegiate Championship Tournament in Division II (for teams with no players with significant experience). The tournament was held March 28 in Atlanta.
Members of the team are Lee Holden ’18 of Spartanburg, Saif Alimohamed ’15 of Spartanburg, Asrar Alimohamed ’18 of Spartanburg and Kevin Emery ’16 of Greenville, S.C. On Wofford’s B team at the tournament were Jimmy Schwartz ’16 of Spartanburg; Kelsey Aylor ’18 of Lawrenceville, Ga.; and Chance Wagner ’17 of Moore, S.C. The team’s advisers are Dr. Matthew Cathey, associate professor of mathematics, and Dr. Tom Wright, assistant professor of mathematics.
At the national tournament Wofford finished 14th, tied with Amherst. According to Wright, Wofford defeated Michigan in head-to-head competition, “thereby avenging last year’s NCAA basketball tournament loss.” On the national championship team were Alimohamed, Emery, Wagner, Schwartz and Holden, who was the team’s captain.
Three students complete University Innovation Fellows program
Three Wofford students, Alexandria Arsi ’17 of Lexington, S.C.; Richard Fields ’17 of Lexington, S.C.; and Cole McCarty ’17 of Lexington, Ky., recently completed training to join the University Innovation Fellows (UIF) of the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter), a national program that empowers student leaders to increase campus engagement with entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity, design thinking and venture creation. The center announced 123 new fellows, bringing the total number of fellows to 291 from 114 colleges and universities. The program is run by Epicenter, which is funded by the National Science Foundation and directed by Stanford University and VentureWell. The Wofford students were supported by faculty sponsors Courtney Shelton and Jeremy Boeh, both on the staff of The Space in the Mungo Center. UIF is a program managed by Stanford University composed of a network of college and university students across the United States that is trying to transform the innovation and entrepreneurship landscape on campuses throughout the nation. McCarty is working on developing a Makerspace at Wofford. Arsi is coordinating efforts to enhance the job and internships search and alumni networks. Fields plans to organize a TEDxWofford event regarding entrepreneurship for the fall of this year.