GSU tops five other teams in Bayou Classic natural disaster competition
By MINIYA SHABAZZ
GSU Media Bureau
A group of Grambling State University students put their minds to work in the last several weeks to take a shot at winning a business technology competition, a contest with the equivalent of NFL football playoffs leading to a Super Bowl business game day challenge.
Not only did they make it to the finals, but won the entire competition. They won $10,000 towards their project entitled Relief Front.
Barry Bontiff, Kenneth Tanner and Joshua Anderson think when there are natural disasters, one solution is to provide and online market place to match those in need with disaster area businesses. The idea captured the imaginations of a panel of judges, and the team won $10,000 to implement their idea during a Bayou Classic Biz Tech Challenge (Nov. 26). Designed to get college students thinking about how to best fix natural disasters, the New Orleans competition featured students from Grambling State and five other universities. A panel of four judges considered each proposal, and the GSU students came out on top.
Byron Clayton, CEO of NexusLA, hosted the event for his company, and Kelisha Garrett of the New Orleans Regional Black Chamber of Commerce, assisted as a special guest speaker.
The big win provided a different type of big game emotional win, one emphasizing academics.
“Bayou Classic is more than a football game there are other opportunities that highlight our students who are doing great things,” said GSU President Rick Gallot. “We have a lot of great students who have never put on a band or football uniform by they are the core of our university.”
Ellen Smiley was equally excited.
“The team and their faculty mentors have demonstrated scholarship, leadership and comradeship throughout the Biztech Challenge competition,” added Smiley, dean of the university’s Lester B. Cole Honors College and interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “They are exemplary examples of what Grambling State University represents — leaders on all playing fields. As always, we are proud of our dedicated faculty and outstanding students.”
The competition was stiff. Nineteen teams participated, and only a few made it to the final competition. The GSU students competed with six teams from Southern University in Baton Rouge, Southern University-Shreveport and three New Orleans-based institutions, Southern University-New Orleans (SUNO), Dillard University and Xavier University during the finals the day before the Bayou Classic football clash between Grambling State and Southern.
The judges included Louis M. Freeman Jr., an innovation catalyst; Yvette Moody, from an IBM Baton Rouge client innovation center; Lyndon B. Johnson, a Caddo Parish commissioner for District 2, and Christopher Reade of the Carrollton Group/LookFar.
Tanner said he and his team worked hard to prepare a strong proposal connecting with the natural disaster concept.
“We believe that the internet gave the ability to connect people and it is a powerful tool,” explained Tanner, a senior marketing major from Rancho Cucamonga, California. “We just wanted to create a product that utilizes the full potential of the internet, something that gives both parties benefits.”
Xavier University won second place with a prize of $6,000. Southern University at New Orleans won third place with a $4,000 prize..
Gallot said he loves that others can see that Grambling State students are capable of so much. “We’re so proud of our students for their participation and winning the BizTech Challenge and the work that they are doing,” he said. “I was honored to be in the audience when they made their presentation, and I’m not surprised at all that they won and I want to congratulate them on a job well done.”
Tanner said the win was special for he, Bontiff and Anderson for another reason. “This our last semester at Grambling, so to leave with a bang and get a win with GSU was a great feeling.”
###
Media Contact:
Office of Communications
318-274-2866
mediarelations@gram.edu