Missouri Western students placed at the Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA) National Leadership Conference in Chicago. They received first place in Sales Presentation and third place in Business Decision Making. These students received $1,175 in cash for placing top in their categories! The students competed in seven events and earned top honors.

Madi Taylor will represent MWSU through 2023 as a student board member for the St. Joseph Youth Alliance. Madi is a marketing major in the Craig School of Business and an active member of Phi Beta Lambda serving as Vice President of Community Service. The Nomination Committee recommended her at the Annual Business Meeting July 15, 2021. Congratulations Madi!

Madi Taylor and Blake Goforth, members of Phi Beta Lambda, attended the Show-Me Leadership conference at Worlds of Fun. The conference was held in the Tivoli Music Hall where they attended presentations on leadership, marketing, and management. Madi and Blake also had the opportunity to check out behind the scenes activities in the haunted houses and roller coaster rides.

Phi Beta Lambda students Seth Hogue, Blake Goforth, Madi Taylor, and Emily Punzo competed at the 2022 State Leadership Conference in Springfield, MO, in April. Events included Financial Concepts, Accounting Principles, Business Ethics, Entrepreneurship Concepts, & Sales presentations. All placed and have the opportunity to compete at the National Leadership Conference in Chicago in June. In addition, all three state office positions up for election at the conference were filled with Missouri Western students. Seth Hogue is president for a second term. Madi Taylor is vice president of membership, and Blake Goforth is the parliamentarian. They were sworn into office for the 2022–2023 term. Pam Klaus is the advisor for the student organization.

Kylar McNeal, a history education major, presented his original research on 19th-century women textile mill workers at the spring 2022 Meeting of the New England Historical Association in Lowell, Massachusetts. His presentation was received with great praise and generated excellent discussion among attendees. He also toured the mill museums and canals in Lowell, and the Freedom Trail in Boston.

Kudos to Josh Pohl, convergent journalism major and editor-in-chief of the Griffon News, for scoring an Honorable Mention in the Apple awards at the National College Media Association Convention in New York City. The Griffon News competed against other four-year universities with fewer than 5,000 undergraduates.

Two ���߲����� nursing students were awarded DAISY Awards for Extraordinary Nursing Students for the spring 2022 semester. 

Hai Le, third semester nursing student from Lee’s Summit, Missouri, and Shayla Bocchine, fourth semester nursing student from Agency, Missouri, were honored as part of the DAISY Foundation’s programs to recognize compassionate and excellent nurses and nursing students.

Le’s nominator pointed to his compassion for a supervising nurse who had gone without lunch when he was with her for clinicals. The next time he was paired with the nurse, he saw that the nurse again had a busy schedule, and used his lunch break to purchase lunch for her and ensure she took a quick break to eat.

“Hai’s compassion for this nurse and his decision to act on the nurse’s behalf is a valuable character trait in a nurse,” the nominator said. “His future patients and co-workers will be very lucky and blessed to have him as an advocate and support.”

Shayla’s nominator said she prioritizes meeting the needs of patients and families.

“She is excited about new experiences and has acquired a variety of nursing skills during her rotation in the I.C.U.,” the nominator said. “She is a very effective communicator. Shayla is very compassionate and exemplifies what it means to be an excellent nurse.”

Missouri Western offers a traditional Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree as well as a Diploma/ADN to BSN degree program for current RNs who want to earn their bachelor’s degree. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu/nursing/ for more information.

Arianne Boma, convergent journalism major and Griffon yearbook editor-in-chief, won the national second-place Apple award for yearbook cover design at the National College Media Association Convention in New York City. The national winning design will don the cover of the 2022 (96th volume) of The Griffon yearbook.

For the sixth time in ten years, MWSU’s Alpha Theta Beta chapter of Pi Sigma Alpha, the National Political Science Honors Society, has been awarded a Best Chapter Award for 2020-2021. The award recognizes local chapters that are particularly active in their institutions and communities and embodies the society’s mission to stimulate scholarship and intellectual interest. The award specifically singled out Dr. Ed Taylor, political science professor in the department of social sciences and humanities. Ed serves as the chapter’s faculty advisor and was recognized for his extraordinary leadership and dedication to the student members. The national organization also recognized political science majors Max Miller, chapter president, and Isabel Lima, vice president, for their student leadership. Congratulations

Dr. Mei Zhang, professor of communication, recently published a book chapter about Chinese television representation of female entrepreneurs. The chapter appears in Television Drama and the Global Village: Storytelling through Race and Gender, published by Lexington Books, an imprint of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group.