The World is our - Lundquist College of Business - University of ...

eta alpha psiof Washington, Gonzaga, and WesternWashington. . . . This victory earnedour team the chance to compete thissummer at the national conference inNew York.12AchievingOur GoalsAlan AkwaiExcerpted from a speech at theAccounting Recognition EveningIt’s been an exciting and eventfulyear for Beta Alpha Psi. First, I’d liketo address what I promised I wouldaccomplish last year when I spoke atthis event. . . . I said we would be usingthe talent in our chapter and forminga team to compete in what is knownas the Best Practices Competitionat the BAP Regional Conferenceand dethroning the University ofWashington, which had taken firstplace in every category in 2008. Well,we did!An all-star team consisting of ReedEngdall, Ashley Kennel, Roy Matsunaga,and David Wallenstein went to Seattlethis past April and made a presentationthat earned a victory over the UniversityLast year I wanted to start a BAPRecruiting Buddy Program and hostmore social events in an effort tobuild relationships within the chapter.While we had some success, whatwas most notable was the chance totruly pinpoint a vision for our chapter’sfuture and what it can be. Beta AlphaPsi has always attracted students whoexcel academically. What I realizedwas that I built a network of friendswho, collectively, have been to morethan thirty countries; speak Spanish,Indonesian, Portuguese, Romanian,German, French, Chinese, Japanese,Vietnamese, and Korean; competed incollegiate-level tennis and football; hada swimming scholarship to ColoradoState University; scored in the 99thpercentile on the LSAT; and haveacademic backgrounds other thanaccounting in history, human physiology,Chinese, economics, and English. This iswhy I believe that the members are BetaAlpha Psi’s biggest untapped resourceand why building an organization thatencourages social interaction is soimportant. From BAP we can practicesome of the needed qualities ofprofessionalism: being socially aware,worldly, good with all kinds of people,and strong communicators.Looking Back,Moving ForwardRoy MatsunagaExcerpted from a speech at theAccounting Recognition EveningWhen I took over as Beta Alpha Psipresident this year, it prompted me tolook back. Do you know how long BetaAlpha Psi has been at the UO? Eightyeightyears, since 1921. I suspect thateven the most senior partners in thisroom would acknowledge that that wasa long time ago.I was cleaning the BAP office a fewweeks ago and I found this book from1939 that lists all of the membersfor those first eighteen years, for alltwelve chapters in the country. Now,seventy years later, with all our moderntechnology and in this era of socialnetworking, we don’t have anything likethis. So we have begun to cultivate adatabase-driven website that will allowus to keep these kinds of records in thefuture and help build bonds betweenstudents and alumni.Beta Alpha Psi is about connections.Though no longer defined as a fraternityin the official literature, BAP mustbecome more fraternal in nature. Now,I don’t mean it should be a boy’s clubwith togas, keggers, and double-secretprobation. I mean a true communityof accountants that can provide itsstudents with the technical toolsnecessary for success, and the abilityto socialize naturally in a professionalsetting. Beta Alpha Psi cannot simplybe another class on a schedule or lineitem on a résumé. Instead, it shouldbe a place where accounting studentscome together to build the bonds thatwill fuel and enrich their academic andprofessional careers.The Beta Alpha Psi kickball team