Driehaus entrepreneurship program ranked #10 in the nation; curricular innovations honored; and more good news from the Loop.
As the fall quarter draws to a close, we have much to celebrate here at DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business.
Two of our very own initiatives, the Driehaus Cup pitch competition and the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center, received top honors from our peers.
As you learned in the last issue of the Business Exchange, the Driehaus Cup is an engaging “Shark Tank”-style pitch competition that gives Business 101 students the chance to explore entrepreneurship early in their careers. In October, the Driehaus Cup earned the annual Curricular Innovation award from the MidAmerican Business Deans Association.
We already knew this year would be a special one for the Coleman Entrepreneurship Center (CEC). A hub of entrepreneurial community in Chicago, the center celebrated its 20th anniversary this October. Just before that gathering, we received fantastic news. At the Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers annual conference (which boasted more than 700 attendees representing 300 universities from across 19 countries!), the Consortium honored our very own CEC with its Nasdaq Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence award. This award is given annually to just one university from among those with an enrollment of 5,000 or more students. It is regarded as the highest honor a university entrepreneurship center can achieve.
In no small part due to the success of these initiatives, our undergraduate entrepreneurship program was ranked 10th in the nation by the Princeton Review. I am so proud of this achievement. It attests to a culture of innovation at Driehaus. And this culture isn’t just created and sustained by our students, faculty and staff. It is also a product of our alumni and community supporters. Everyone I have spoken to involved in entrepreneurship at Driehaus can tell you this: Supporting entrepreneurs is a team effort. Our entrepreneurship program is only as strong as our connections. And those connections are strong indeed.
From entrepreneurship to sports marketing and management, this issue of Business Exchange is all about connections. You’ll read about the Coleman Center’s role as a hub of entrepreneurial community. You’ll hear how that community has supported Driehaus junior Gretchen Shuler as she launches a coffee business designed to empower foster youth. You’ll drop in on Director of Sports Business Programs Andy Clark’s (MBA ’87) “master classes” in networking. And you’ll hear about an exciting new program launched by Richard Rocco, associate professor of marketing, that promises to build bridges between research and industry.
In all four stories, you’ll find alumni and supporters of Driehaus and the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business. Some are mentioned by name. Others play equally crucial roles just off the page as mentors, as panelists and guest speakers, as pitch competition judges, as bridge-builders and change-makers.
If you are looking for ways to get involved yourself, the CEC would be delighted to hear from you. I would be too. Regardless, I am confident that you will find the stories of our students and faculty just as inspiring as I do.
