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competition. Other potential features include paths for
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A Win for Business Students
walking and exercise; an event space suitable for classes, discussions, and performances; and spots that encourage reflection, gathering, and play. Sponsors include BrightView; NatureWorks; New Haven Land Trust; Care of Trees, a Davey Company; Hamden Land Conservation Trust; Svigals and Partners; Garden Club of Newtown; and the Garden Literacy Project. Support also is provided by Bishop’s Orchards and Community Gardens as Appleseeds through their Seeds of Encouragement Grant. For more information or to make a gift, visit reflectiongarden. SouthernCT.edu.
On Feb. 25, Southern students (seated from left) Peter Blanchet, Paul Barlow, Yiying Cui, Alec Santo, and Alvin Chandesais participated in the regional Venture Capital Investment Competition (VCIC) at Boston University. Southern qualified for the event after the team of Blanchet, Barlow, and Santo won first place at the Connecticut VCIC in December. The team was advised by (standing, left) Benjamin A. Abugri, professor and chair of economics and finance, who is pictured with Mike Roer, president of the Entrepreneurship Foundation, a nonprofit organization that administers the competition.
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TUDENTS FROM SOUTHERN’S SCHOOL OF BUSINESS WON
THE CONNECTICUT VENTURE CAPITAL INVESTMENT COMPETITION
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National Teacher of the Year Returns to Southern
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the midst of an international tour that touched down in four continents, Jahana Hayes, ’05, the National Teacher of the Year for 2016, came home to Southern. “Education is the pursuit of happiness,” she told the audience at the School of Education Dean’s Colloquium Series, held Sept. 16 at Lyman Center. A history teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Waterbury, Conn., Hayes (right) also shared thoughts on the profession at an informal meeting with students who are majoring in education. She will be honored by Southern as the recipient of the Distinguished Alumna Award, one of the highest honors bestowed on a graduate by the university, at the undergraduate commencement ceremony on May 19, 2017.
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FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN ROW. Southern’s team of Peter Blanchet, Alec
Santo, and Paul Barlow turned back stiff competition from Quinnipiac and Fairfield
universities to win the December competition, which challenges teams to present
business and investment plans. The victory qualified Southern to compete at the
regional competition in Boston.
“It was a wonderful achievement for our students,” says Benjamin Abugri,
chairman of the economics and finance department and the team’s faculty adviser.
“To qualify for competition against schools such as Harvard, MIT, and Cornell speaks
to the capabilities of Southern’s students.”