Phi Beta Lambda team members with Mary Young, director of the School's Career Services Center

The University of Miami's Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), which is organized by the School of Business, took home 11 awards at this year’s District Leadership Conference competition, held this month in Davie at the Broward College campus. The team, which included Max Wexler, Christopher Kelm, Christopher Morgan, and Alicia Barroso, competed against teams from Broward College, Florida International University, Miami Dade College, Palm Beach State College and Florida Atlantic University.

This year marked the first year that the School’s PBL chapter competed in the District Competition. Team members credited the School of Business’s academic rigor and faculty expertise for their achievements at the competition.

"We were all able to succeed because of the great undergraduate business core classes,” said Alicia Barroso. “UM has amazing professors teaching these courses, and we truly realized that when we competed against other business students from local schools.”

 “Our experiences in the School of Business proved invaluable in our success at the recent competition,” added Christopher Kelm.  “For every category one of us received an award in, a relevant course had been taken in the previous semester that had prepared us for the event.”

Ultimately, UM came away with five first place awards, five second place awards, and one third place award. In addition to the competition, the District Leadership Conference offered students networking opportunities with fellow PBL members as well as the chance to hear from an executive at Toastmaster Corporation and Phi Beta Lambda’s Florida state president, Jose Betancourt.

“The most enriching part of the experience was networking with business students from local colleges, who we may not have otherwise had the opportunity to meet,” said Kelm.  “The other chapter’s extensive memberships served as a reminder that our chapter has significant room for growth, which we hope to pursue in the future.”

“We’re extremely proud of these four students who represent our school and university so well in all that they do,” said Linda Neider, vice dean of Undergraduate Business Programs. “Given their motivation, abilities, and exceptional breadth of knowledge, it is not surprising that they won top accolades at this leadership conference.  All of us look forward to the many ways that they will continue to contribute to the U in the years ahead.”