Sophomore Puts DECA Student Group in Spotlight

Sophomore Rebecca Raymond already has an impressive résumé of collegiate accomplishments, but she says the most rewarding lately have been getting elected state president of Texas Collegiate DECA and leading the fledgling UT Dallas chapter of the student group to an outstanding showing at DECA’s international competition.

Raymond is chapter president of UTD DECA, which she helped launch last year. She was elected statewide president in February.

DECA is an international not-for-profit student organization with high school and college divisions whose goal is to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs for careers in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.

For Raymond, double-majoring in business administration and accounting, the club’s leadership ambitions align with her own. At UT Dallas, her tah-dah list already includes being:

• a recipient of a four-year, full-ride Academic Excellence Scholarship
• a member of the Collegium V Honors Program
• a member of the Davidson Management Honors Program, and
• first violinist in the Camerata Orchestra/Comet Symfonique.

So heading for a career-development conference sponsored by DECA’s collegiate division — which includes more than 15,000 members in 275 colleges and universities — made sense to her.

Raymond traveled in April with 18 other UT Dallas students to Orlando, Florida, where participants competed in various business competitions individually and in groups.

In the business research category, one UT Dallas team earned second place, and another placed fourth. In individual competitions, 11 Jindal School students advanced to the finals, with 10 of those placing in the top 10 of their categories.

“I am so proud of how well UTD participants performed at a competition that included countries from around the globe, as well as 25 U.S. states,” Raymond said.