Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com

12 of Cleary University’s DECA students qualified for the International Career Development Conference this spring.

The conference will be held in San Francisco Apr. 5 through Apr. 9.

16 Cleary students went to the state competition in Bay City earlier this month to qualify for the national competition.

The students competing in April are:

Carson MacMillan, of Howell, and Morgan Whitcomb, of Brighton, received first place in Advertising Campaign.

Matt Radjewski, of Macomb, received third place in Advertising Campaign.

Ambre Canado, of Toulouse, France, Emma Nobels, of Vijfhuizen, The Netherlands, and Sarah Wessels, of Langerwehe, Germany, all received second place in Entrepreneurship: Starting a Business.

Jacob Haley, of Flint, and Hsiang “Shaelyn” Kao, of Douliu, Yunlin, Taiwan, received third place in Entrepreneurship: Starting a Business.

Macie Mullins, of Brooklyn, Mich., and Olivia Williams, of Nashville, Mich., received third place in Business to Business Marketing.

Sarah Wessels also received third place in Travel and Tourism.

Ryan Davis, of Commerce Twp, and Chase Palmer, of Macomb, were finalists in Business Research.

Emma Nobels was also a finalist in Financial Accounting.

“We are so proud of the performance of all of our Cleary DECA students,” Kelly Genei, Dean of Undergraduate Studies and Co-Advisor of DECA, said. “They are an impressive representation of our university.”

More than 200 students competed from 10 Michigan universities in the state competition. Cleary students competed in a wide variety of categories, including advertising campaign, restaurant and food management and sports marketing.

“Our students approached their events with confidence, poise and knowledge, demonstrating their strengths in business principles, which thoroughly impressed the judges,” Justine Defever, Associate Professor at Cleary and Co-Advisor of DECA. “Our DECA students received many accolades from the judges as reported in the evaluation sheets. It was so impressive as a faculty member to see how our students truly embodied the Cleary Mind attributes.”

The students are accepting donations from the community and organizing fundraisers to help fund their trip. Anyone interested in helping should email jdefever@cleary.edu.

Officials expect more than 10,000 students from around the world to compete in the international competition.

DECA prepares college and high school students to be leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

Cleary’s DECA program was started five years ago.

“We are excited to see the program growing so rapidly and with such great achievements in such a short time,” Genie, who started the program, said. “The DECA competitive categories fit perfectly with the concentrations offered at Cleary, and the focus on problem solving, communication and leadership skills is exactly what we try to develop with the Cleary Mind.”

The university offers a $4,000 DECA scholarship to a new undergraduate student who enrolls full-time at Cleary. The student must have and maintain a GPA of 2.5, participate in a high school DECA program, submit a letter of recommendation from a student advisor, participate in DECA for four years at Cleary and remain a full-time student at the university. Cleary also offers a $10,000 scholarship to one student who meets the same criteria and has held a DECA state officer position or has advanced to a national or international competition. There is also a $20,000 scholarship for a student who meets the same criteria and has held a national officer position or placed first in a national or international competition.

To learn more about DECA, email jdefever@cleary.edu. For information on DECA scholarship opportunities, email admissions@cleary.edu.

(photo credit: Cleary University)