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Mississippi College business students matched their finance skills with competitors from five other institutions and finished on top.
They shined at Georgia State University’s sixth annual Private Firm Valuation Challenge in November. The effort led the five-man MC team to earn the Kierulff Cup and a $2,500 cash award.
“It was a great team effort,” said MC Student Government Association President Rowan St. John. But the Mesquite, Texas resident gives much of the credit to the team’s mentor, finance professor Charles Beauchamp.
“We are just thrilled to represent an MC School of Business that’s put their time, effort and other resources into the development of our learning,” St. John added.
Others competing included students Harrison Thomas, Grant Baker, Austin McCarty and Will Tobermann. It marked the first time Mississippi College competed at the event in Atlanta. Seattle Pacific University hosted it the first five years.
MC School of Business students matched their expertise against Georgia State, Seattle Pacific, the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, University of Southern Indiana, and the University of Northern Iowa. Nineteen other schools failed to move from the first round to the finals on November 12.
Beauchamp praised the students for logging many hours preparing for the rigorous academic challenges. To get ready, they learned to assess the stand-alone, actual value of a private company. As part of round one, they also submitted a 30-minute video of their findings to three judges, all professional valuation experts.
“Not only did our students work very hard, they carried themselves with the professional and ethical standards indicative of MC’s best,” Beauchamp said.
Word of the Mississippi College victory in the national competition drew praise from President Lee Royce and School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo.
“Your achievement speaks volumes regarding your teachers, the program and your personal and team discipline along with hard work in winning the prize,” Royce told the students.
The five students, Eduardo said, are “fantastic representatives of what we are doing here at the MC School of Business. Most of us have been fortunate to have them in our classes, so we are not surprised at what they accomplished.”
A senior finance major from Southaven, Tobermann said it was an honor to serve on the team and represent the Christian university’s School of Business.
With guidance from professor Beauchamp, “We were able to apply concepts we learned in class to a real-world business situation,” Tobermann said. “We spent many hours over the past few weeks putting together our presentation. It was an intellectually challenging endeavor. It’s exciting to see our hard work pay off.”
Photo: Front row left to right: Austin McCarty, Will Tobermann, Harrison Thomas Back Row left to right: Grant Baker, Dr. Charles Beauchamp, Rowan St. John
