Business students no longer had to choose between the American Mar– keting AssOCiation and Pi Sigma Epsi– lon when deciding which extracur– ricular activity to participate in this school year. AMA and Pi Sigma Epsilonmerged into one club this fall. The combined clubs kept the name AMA. "This isagood decision for Pi Sigs," senior Ryan Hayes, vice president of Pi Sigma Epsilon, .said. "We had a lot ofour members grad uate last year and it would be hard w ith such a small group. Since both groups are business clubs w ith an emphasis on marketing, the decision to become one made sense." The national professionalfratemity, Pi Sigma Epsilon, combined the con– cepts of marketing, sales management and selling. "futhclubs werecompeting for busi– ness students and now they don't have to choose between either club," Hayes said. "Students can join one cJub and get professionalsalesand marketingknowl– edge from the same group." AMA, one of the world's largest SeniorJordan Hix, sophomoreCourtney Hix and senior Jessica Foster work on a presentation at an Economics Team meet– ing Jan. 21. Dr. Don Diffine, professor of economics, sponsoredtheteamforthe 28111 year in a row. (Photo by Melissa Wilson) Members of the American Marketing Association await the revealing of the new College of Business Administration logo Nov. 21.AMAand Pi Sigma Epsilonmerged this year. (Photo by Renee Lewis) business fraternities, dedka ted itspur– pose to developing members profes– Sionally with experience in marketing, leadership and activities that would increase each member's val ue in the competitive job market. Senior Morgan Kimb rough, presi– dent of AMA, was excited about the merger. "The merge has been positive for both clubs," Kimbrough said. "PiSigs have been talking about merging with AMA for the past few years and this year we fin ally made it happen. Sales and marketing go hand-in-hand, so the two clubs easily work together." Kimbrough said the club concen– trated on serving, along w ith further– ing its professional goals this year. "We are still planning on doing the pizza wars thatPiSigsalways planned to raise money for muscular dystro– phy and we are planning different communi ty outreach service projects like getting involved w ith the White CountyHospice Program," Kimbrough said. Lori Sloan, associate professor of marketing and faculty sponsor of AMA, shared in the excitement about the possibilities for the newly com– bined group . "With the combined groups, we have more students and we can get involvedinbiggerprojects,"Sloansai,t. Sloan said the reason for the merge was not due to a lack of student inter– est, but because the missions of the twocl ubs were similaron a small cam– pus. "Since the twoclubs provided simi– lar services and experiences, we were competing against each other for stu– dents," Sloan sa id. "There was always a friendly competition between us, but now we can work together and there– fore, have more opportunities." Sloan wasenthusiastic about work– ing with Dr. Randy McLeod, associate professorofbusinessand former spon– sor of Pi Sigma Epsilon. "Even though we letthestudentsrun the group, it will be nice to work with another faculty member," Sloan said. "Then I have someone to bounce ideas offofand another businessmind tocome up with new opportunities for AMA." -Kerri Dutile
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