Regent SIFE celebrates after winning the 2008 SIFE Spirit Award on stage with Jack Shewmaker, the award’s founder. Click here to watch the SIFE Spirit video!

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Spirit: a particular mood or an emotional state characterized by vigor and animation. It’s that characterization that led the Regent University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Team to win the 2008 Jack Shewmaker SIFE Spirit Award at the National SIFE Exposition in Chicago, Ill., May 13-15.

Jack Shewmaker, founder of the SIFE Spirit Award and consultant to SIFE World Headquarters, identified the award’s three finalists during the closing awards ceremony and announced Regent SIFE as the winner based on their strong commitment to bettering the lives of others through their efforts. The Regent SIFE Team received the Spirit Award trophy and $2,000.

Regent SIFE submitted a two-minute video showing what “SIFE Spirit” meant to them. In the video, they demonstrated how the Regent SIFE Team exudes extraordinary SIFE spirit and integrated projects from the last several years along with competition footage from prior national competitions.

“We had to consider what drives our team members to commit to SIFE,” explained Dr. Greg Stone, advisor for the Regent SIFE Team. “The team selected for this award has to show that they tackle everything with the utmost passion and enthusiasm for furthering the mission and vision of their SIFE team and the SIFE organization as a whole.”

“I’ve seen this team in action, and they set the standard for a lot of start-up SIFE teams,” added Brittany Atwood, program manager for the SIFE teams in the southeastern United States. “New SIFE teams can turn to Regent for help, and they are known for giving anyone assistance! That’s the kind of competitive spirit we all want to see in today’s world!”

Throughout the school year, SIFE teams take what they are learning in the classroom and go into their communities to teach others about market economics, entrepreneurship, personal success, financial literacy and business ethics. The SIFE USA National Exposition brings regional SIFE champion teams from across the country to compete for the title of U.S. Champion.

Regent SIFE also won First Runner-Up in their league and 2nd place in the National SIFE Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Anti-Piracy PSA contest.

“This team always leaves a positive mark on the SIFE USA National Exposition in some way” Stone summarized. “Winning the SIFE Spirit Award officially recognizes the heart, soul and passion our students have for helping others.”

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About the School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship

The School of Global Leadership & Entrepreneurship (GLE) is one of seven graduate schools within Regent University and is located in Virginia Beach, Va. Offering fully-accredited master's and doctoral degrees in a flexible online format, GLE provides rigorous, yet innovative academic programs that can accommodate even the busiest professionals. For more information, visit www.regent.edu/global.