After a Rookie of the Year finish that had the faculty sponsor jumping in the air — “I went wild,” recalls Bill Fredenberger — SIFE is ready for more students to participate.
Any students interested in joining SIFE can attend the College of Business organization’s meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday in Swang 100.
Lipscomb’s SIFE (Students in Free Enterprise) team began last year in January when sponsor Fredenberger — an adjunct professor and the Sam Walton Fellow Adviser for the team — and about 20 students met to develop the organization.
Duncan Gross, SIFE president and a sophomore accounting major, said the team works on projects throughout the year and then presents them at competitions.
“The projects that you’re working on are ways to empower people,” Gross said. “You’re empowering them to change their quality of life and standard of living, all through the positive power of business.”
SIFE team with the Rookie of the Year award.
Only three months after its inception, the team traveled to Atlanta for the regional competition and won the championship. The team also received the Rookie of the Year award and qualified for the national competition in Minneapolis, Minn.
Fredenberger said that he had hoped the team would do well but had not been expecting to win.
“I was very surprised,” Fredenberger said. “We just went wild. They said I jumped about three feet in the air. We deserved it. We worked for it. I just didn’t expect us to get it.”
Gross said he was grateful for the recognition they received.
“It made me feel like we were really making a difference in our community and that other people were acknowledging that,” Gross said. “The motto of SIFE is ‘a head for business and a heart for the world.’ We were obviously applying [that motto].”
Fredenberger said he thinks the national event and other SIFE competitions build confidence in students and also offer opportunities that simply don’t exist within the classroom.
“It’s a wonderful experience for the students,” Fredenberger said. “It really expands their horizons tremendously.”
Gross said that the team’s ultimate goal isn’t winning competitions but impacting the community.
“We hope we can empower as many people as possible to change their quality of life and standard of living socially, economically, environmentally while at the same time representing Lipscomb in a positive way.”