DAVENPORT UNIVERSITY STUDENTS
SCORE A RECORD YEAR AT NATIONAL BUSINESS COMPETITION

Twenty six DU students place top ten in the nation

Davenport University recently sent 26 students from the W. A. Lettinga Campus in Caledonia Township to the Business Professionals of America’s (BPA) 43rd National Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas on June 16 - 21. More than 3,000 students from several universities across the United States participated in the competition.

Davenport students won nine first-place awards given at the post secondary level of the conference, nine second-place awards and eight third-place awards. All 26 students from Davenport who competed at the national level placed in the top ten nationally in at least one category; others placed in several categories.

Davenport students swept several competition categories, taking first, second and third place in competitions such as network design, computer security, extemporaneous speech and video production.

“Davenport University's BPA students have been the best in the state of Michigan for years. Now after winning more awards than any other institution at the national competition, we can claim that they are the best in the nation,” said Dr. Kojo Quartey, dean of Davenport University’s School of Business. “These placements are testaments to the fact that our students are ready to become true business professionals.”

The goal of the competition is to prepare students with business skills that they will need in today’s workplace. Students competed in more than 50 different events consisting of accounting, computer skills, job interview techniques, speeches and many team events. The students competing represented the nation’s top competitors.

BPA is a career and technical student organization that helps develop leadership, academic and technological skills. Through a co-curricular program, members of BPA compete in demonstrations and network with other professionals across the nation. There are more than 51,000 members in 23 states.

About Davenport University
Davenport University – the only West Michigan-based private university specializing in business, technology and health professions – serves an enrollment of approximately 11,000 students at its W. A. Lettinga campus in Grand Rapids, locations throughout Michigan, and online. Davenport focuses on innovative, practical and affordable education and offers graduate and undergraduate programs.