20th Annual School of Business Awards Distribute Record Scholarship Amount

20th Annual School of Business Awards Distribute Record Scholarship Amount

April 16, 2024, 1:55 PM

On April 11, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville School of Business awarded 165 students more than $366,000 in scholarships. Janice Joplin, PhD, interim dean of the SIUE School of Business, noted student awardees were chosen from more than 1,000 applicants, and the amount of financial support given to students hit a record.

"This is a special event for the School of Business because it allows us to do two important things," said Joplin. "Celebrate the excellent academic achievement of our outstanding undergraduate and graduate business students. And recognize and show our appreciation to our donors; without whose generosity, the financial assistance given today to our students would not be possible."

SIUE School of Business has more than 1600 students enrolled. This is the 20th year of its annual scholarships and awards program. Sara Colvin, Senior Director of Development, School of Business, John Martinson Honors Program and Major Gift Team Lead, read the names of numerous award-winners present whose majors ranged from accounting to computer management and information systems to MBA's.

"Seeing the real difference scholarship support makes is the highlight of my work. I'm committed to reaching out to our alumni and partners to secure funds for our school. Tonight, watching our remarkable Business students benefit from these opportunities, I'm reminded of why I do what I do."

"I applied the last day, right before it was the deadline, so I didn't think I was going to get any because I didn't know about them. And then I got two," said Raven Eskridge, winner of the William E. Baker Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Sherry Baker, and the Thomas E. DuHadway '66 Memorial Award sponsored by Donna DuHadway.

Eskridge attended the ceremony with both her one-year old son and her mother. The third-year School of Business student plans to return to SIUE for her MBA in healthcare administration.

"I was excited when I found out and I'm really happy for this four-year scholarship," said Nathan Siegel, a first-year business administration major. Siegel was one of 35 winners of the Homer L. and Helen L. Cox Scholarships made possible by a gift bequeathed by the late Dr. Homer L. Cox. Siegel relocated from Florida to attend SIUE. "I came from out of state. My father went here."

Gage Datlovsky, a former SIUE wrestler, won the Frank Staggers Award for Excellence in Marketing Research, sponsored by Brendia Staggers and Family, Friends and Colleagues of Frank Staggers in his memory. The scholarship and awards ceremony, to which he wore his grandfather's blazer, held special meaning.

"My family defected from Russia after World War II. I'm the second generation here. We've been spending the time rebuilding our family here because we've been through plenty of hard times two generations ago," said Datlovsky. "I started undergrad at SIUE in 2015 and I worked here part time as a waiter. I wrestled here. That got me through school."

"This is one of those days where my students get recognized, and that is extremely important to me," said Ramara Madupalli, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Management and Marketing and director of the Master of Marketing Research (MMR) program. "I'm so glad everybody's here to congratulate them."

Enterprise Mobility honored student organizations, their student leaders and faculty advisors of the Semester and Student Organizations of the Year. Student organizations were recognized for the following four qualities:

- How the organization establishes activities to support its mission,
- How those activities accomplish their stated goals,
- How their members serve the organization, and finally
- How their organization serves its stakeholders.

Emerging Leaders Improving Through Experience (ELITE), Beta Alpha Psi and International Business Association earned first, second and third place respectively.

The evening's winners seemed humbled by the recognition and took to heart Joplin's opening statement: "And I can speak from personal experience as a scholarship recipient, when I was doing my undergrad, it would have been impossible for me to have gone to college."

For those receiving the evening's awards, Joplin gave two assignments. "First, if possible, form a personal relationship with the sponsor of your scholarship, and keep the sponsor informed of your academic progress," said Joplin. "And then second, please reflect on the meaning of the scholarship to you. And in doing so, we hope that you will see fit to return this kindness sometime in the future when you're able."

She added, "Our students really thrive because of the outstanding support they've received from our donors and our advisory board and the school. It is critical to our success in terms of our students when they graduate and go out get a job. It's not just a job, it's a career and when they do well that speaks volumes for the university. We're very happy to help you be able to achieve your educational goals by supporting you monetarily."

PHOTO: Winners of the Homer L. and Helen L. Cox Scholarships made possible by a gift bequeathed by the late Dr. Homer L. Cox, Janice Joplin, PhD, interim dean of the SIUE School of Business (on the left), Nathan Siegel, first-year business administration major (top row, third from right); Raven Eskridge, winner of the William E. Baker Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Sherry Baker, and the Thomas E. DuHadway '66 Memorial Award sponsored by Donna DuHadway, and her son; winners of the Frank Staggers Award for Excellence in Marketing Research, sponsored by Brendia Staggers and Family, Friends and Colleagues of Frank Staggers in his memory, Gage Datlovsky (third from the right), Ramara Madupalli, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Management and Marketing and director of the Master of Marketing Research (MMR) program (far right)