PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas (April 28, 2022) – A cross-disciplinary team of business and engineering students from Prairie View A&M University recently traveled to Houston to attend the inaugural HBCU Bain & Company Case Clash at Bain & Company’s Houston office. The visit included a full day of programming, starting with a networking breakfast with employees (Bainies) of the global management consulting firm, followed by preparation for the case competition with students from Texas Southern University.
“The three invited teams had roughly four hours to help their client Spruce, an online education platform, figure out a new growth strategy,” said PVAMU College of Business Assistant Dean Kimberly Gordon. “Students worked through lunch with the support of Bain employees and made their final presentation to a panel of Bain judges.”
“Part of the education and training we impart to our students is the ability to operate effectively outside their comfort zones and perform at a high level under pressure,” said COB Dean Munir Quddus, Ph.D. “The Bain competition is exactly the type of setting that produces the best among the young college students training to participate in the highly competitive world of business.”
PVAMU students Kendall Brown, Collin Johnson, Evan Leblanc, and Chaziah Smith emerged victorious in the case competition, securing bragging rights and a team scholarship of $5,000. Students described the event as both “stressful” and “exhilarating.” Overall, they were pleased to participate and end the day at Morton’s The Steakhouse in downtown Houston with Bainies.
“The team from Bain, Uma Krishnan, senior manager, and Katie Puza, manager, did a wonderful job of making this experience a meaningful one,” Gordon said. “Prize money for students and immersion in their environment is great and certainly an incentive for students. The organization’s commitment to continued mentoring and support after the competition is over shows that they value their relationship with the university and these students.”
Gordon says the student participants will have an opportunity to apply and interview for one of several Bain internships or full-time roles later. Additionally, Bain will provide mentoring and coaching leading up to the interviews to help the students prepare.
PVAMU’s winning team from left to right: Evan Leblanc, Kendall Brown, Collin Johnson, and Chaziah Smith.
PVAMU’s complete list of student participants included:
- Kendall Brown – Finance Major, Economics Minor
- Jayven Jean-Louis – Computer Science Major
- Collin Johnson – Finance Major
- Evan Leblanc – Finance Major
- Adam Mickles – Computer Engineering Major
- Miguel Angel Pecho Kinson – Management Information Systems Major
- Chaziah Smith – Management Information Systems Major
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