STUDENT NEWS
Debate Team Wins International Competition Accomplished Morehouse team now ranked fifth in the nation
Accounting Students Win First Deloitte Innovation Challenge
Six Morehouse College students have won the inaugural Deloitte National Audit Innovation Campus Challenge— a cutting-edge case study competition. The students used technology to streamline the audit risk assessment process. Juniors Matthew Manning, Kameron Nobles, and Eric Wells, along with sophomores George Cristaff, Paul Bryant, and Maximilian Sanders, defeated finalists from the University of Southern California, University of Arkansas, the College of William & Mary, the University of Wisconsin, and Pace University in the first-ever competition. The competition was April 5. “Morehouse College’s team defeated much larger institutions’ teams at the regional and national levels,” said Emmanuel Onifade, director of the accounting program at Morehouse, and the team’s coach. “That speaks to the quality of our accounting program, as well as the quality of our students.” The team won a $10,000 first-place prize for developing an application that uses artificial intelligence to identify non-financial data from external sources. The data would contribute to auditors’ ability to identify risks of misstatement in a company’s financial statements and enhance audit quality. “Auditors have to read a lot of articles and look for information on the web,” said Manning, an accounting major. “So, we decided to bring the information to them and put it in a presentable manner so they can make decisions.” The event, hosted by Deloitte and The Deloitte Foundation at Deloitte University, is designed to expose students to the need for bringing tech-savvy skills to the accounting field. M
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The Morehouse College Debate Team has won a first-place, international title after defeating Vanderbilt University in the final round at the Lafayette Debates North American Championship in Washington, D.C. The victory, which came with a traveling trophy that dates back 235 years and a study tour in Paris, is a first for Morehouse College. “This is a very big deal,” said Assistant Professor of Communication Kenneth Newby ‘96, who is the debate coach and director of the Morehouse Speech and Debate program. “This was a difficult competition staged in two parts over two days. We had to battle our way through the quarterfinals and the semifinals, which we won unanimously. And in the final round, we faced-off against Vanderbilt and won 3-2.” Newby took a two-man team to the Lafayette Debates in April: Jonathan Carlisle ‘17 and junior Keith Matier. After the duo was selected to present, the entire College team worked together to strengthen Morehouse’s argument for and against the topic: “Should Democracies Prioritize Interculturalism as a
Strategy for Managing Diversity.” “One of our strengths is a deep understanding that black voices matter,” Newby said. “We usually take a novel approach that other teams don’t take and make points that they don’t expect. Adding that diversity of opinion in debate really reinforces how important it is for students to make their voices heard in the world.” “I am extremely proud of the collaborative approach that we took to develop our arguments,” he added. “It truly makes it a victory that everyone can share.” Carlisle emphasized that the win is a victory for HBCUs, as well. “What this victory says to me is that I chose the right school, and the education that I’m receiving is valuable,” Carlisle said. “I believe that I can do anything in the world because of the experiences that I’ve had at Morehouse College.” Morehouse has won seven national and four international titles since 2011 under Newby’s leadership. The Morehouse Debate Team raises funds to attend competitions and has an ongoing need for financial support. Visit: giving.morehouse.edu/debate M
(Left to Right) Jonathan Carlisle ’17, Prof. Kenneth A. Newby ’97, and Keith Matier ’18 at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C., after winning the Lafayette Debates North American Championship.
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