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���ҹ�����’s team Has Now Won More than Any Other Team, Surpassing Harvard’s Four Victories
The ���ҹ����� team is 80 percent women and has members from around the country, and as far as China.

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The ���ҹ����� Federal Reserve Challenge Team made history at the winning the national title for the fifth time. With the win earlier this month, ���ҹ����� now has won five of the last eight competitions and has the most victories of any team in the history of the Federal Reserve College Challenge, surpassing Harvard University’s four titles.

“I’m so excited about this win because it demonstrates that our students are among the very best in the United States,” said Mark Weinstock, economics professor and one of the team’s coaches. “The economics department at ���ҹ����� has pioneered the role of women and first-generation college students, and has created an inclusiveness based on hard work, merit, and the excitement of learning.”

Captained by economics students Yuwei (Winnie) Liu ’22 and Fiona Waterman ’22, the ���ҹ����� team is 80 percent women – no other team in the country has more than 20 percent – and is made up of students from as far as Beijing, China, and Boulder, Colorado, and as close as Staten Island and Fishkill, N.Y.

“This win is the result of hundreds of hours of studying and practicing starting in the summer,” said Liu. “We are so lucky and proud to lead a hard-working team, with everyone always being understanding of the workload and striving for excellence.”

The team received academic guidance from Weinstock and Economics Professor Greg Colman, PhD, with support from Distinguished Professor of Economics Joseph Morreale and Associate Professor of Economics Annya Shostya, PhD.

“We are especially grateful to our advisors, who were with us throughout this wonderful learning experience,” said Waterman, “as well as members of the Fed Team in previous years who offered valuable suggestions.”

Captains Liu (Beijing, China) and Waterman (Boulder, Colorado) are joined on the team by the following Dyson College students:

• Christopher Beck ’22 Economics, Staten Island, N.Y. ;
• Gianni Campanaro ’22, Business Economics, Staten Island, N.Y.;
• Casey Cloutier ’22, Economics and Modern Languages and Cultures, Niagara Falls, N.Y.;
• Stephanie Ertel ’22, Economics, Fishkill, N.Y.;
• and Kate Fong ’23, Economics, Orange County, CA.

The ���ҹ����� team was one of six that advanced to the final round from the pool of 18 teams from across the country that qualified for the national competition. The University of Pennsylvania and Dartmouth College, both Ivy League institutions, finished in second and third place, respectively, with George Washington University, UCLA, and the University of Wisconsin earning honorable mentions.

Each team in the national round was required to record a 15-minute presentation analyzing elements of the United States economy, including areas like GDP and unemployment, and provide monetary policy recommendations for the Federal Reserves’ balance sheet and interest rates. The teams then participated in a live, .

“This experience is invaluable,” said Weinstock. “It gets students who are passionate about this work close to the action. It teaches them to defend their thinking, be cool under pressure, and clearly communicate verbally and in writing, all skills that will serve them well in their future professions.”

To advance to the national tournament, ���ҹ����� won the First Round Regional Competition, which was held virtually on Sunday, October 24, featuring more than 30 teams from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The winners were announced on Nov. 10, 2021.

This story has been updated: A previous version of this story had incorrect information relating to the time period over which ���ҹ����� had won the Fed Challenge. ���ҹ����� has won five of the last eight years.

About ���ҹ�����

���ҹ����� has a proud history of preparing its diverse student body for a lifetime of professional success as a result of its unique program that combines rigorous academics and real-world experiences. ���ҹ����� is ranked the #1 private, four-year college in the nation for upward economic mobility by Harvard University’s Opportunity Insights, evidence of the transformative education the University provides. From its beginnings as an accounting school in 1906, ���ҹ����� has grown to three campuses, enrolling 13,000 students in bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs in more than 150 majors and programs, across a range of disciplines: arts, sciences, business, health care, technology, law, education, and more. The university also has one of the most competitive performing arts programs in the country. ���ҹ����� has a signature, newly renovated campus in New York City, located in the heart of vibrant Lower Manhattan, next to Wall Street and City Hall, and two campuses in Westchester County, New York: a 200-acre picturesque Pleasantville Campus and the Elisabeth Haub School of Law in White Plains. or on the ���ҹ����� News website.

About Dyson College of Arts and Sciences

���ҹ�����’s liberal arts college, Dyson College, offers more than 50 programs, spanning the arts and humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and pre-professional programs (including pre-medicine, pre-veterinary, and pre-law), as well as many courses that fulfill core curriculum requirements. The College offers access to numerous opportunities for internships, cooperative education and other hands-on learning experiences that complement in-class learning in preparing graduates for career and graduate/professional education choices.

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A team of students from University of Miami School of Law won the second annual Elisabeth Haub School of Law Environmental Law and Policy Hack Competition.

The students, Samantha Cristol, Jordan Maun, and Nteboheng Mokuena, won a $2,000 prize that goes toward implementation of their proposal to mitigate nutrient pollution from nitrogen and phosphorus in the Biscayne Bay in South Florida. Addressing a host of challenges, including agricultural fertilizer overuse, wastewater system deficiencies, and stormwater runoff, their proposal calls for policy and enforcement changes on both regional and municipal levels for nutrient reduction and management, as well as the creation of community education programs.

Three teams were chosen as finalists for Haub Law’s 2021 Environmental Law and Policy Hack Competition, an environmental law and policy problem-solving event that invites students to propose an innovative and practical response to a current environmental challenge and awards seed funding to support implementation of the winning concept.

Two other teams along with the University of Miami School of Law team were selected as finalists by a panel of ���ҹ����� faculty: The University of Baltimore School of Law team, Brian Lee Krell, Ernesto Villaseñor, Jr., Alexander Kawecki, Nicholas R. Nelson, Vidhi Kumar, Katherine Jeffreys, James Duffy, Bently Green, Sr., and Bently Green, Jr, who proposed an expansion of Maryland’s manure transport program following an analysis of poultry operators in the state to protect Maryland’s Eastern Shore and the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law team, Samantha Fairbanks, Alexis Smith, and Gabriella Werner, who proposed riparian buffer conservation easements in the Shenandoah Valley to protect the Chesapeake Bay from nutrient pollution.

“For the second year in a row, the chosen finalist teams, which included several 1L students, were all very impressive in the breadth of their knowledge of their target communities and the impact that innovative local level responses can have on environmental law, policy and politics,” said Haub Law Professor Katrina Fischer Kuh, who organized the competition.

“Each of the submitted proposals would bring great benefits to their chosen water resource and the local communities that rely on them. They would also provide a useful model for nutrient pollution prevention beyond their chosen water bodies, on a more broad scale.”—Haub Law Professor Katrina Fischer Kuh, JD

Law students around the country were challenged to select a specific water body (or watershed), identify potential sources of nutrient contamination and recommend strategies for reducing nutrient contamination in the identified water body and also identify plans, policies, laws, or financial initiatives to carry them out. The virtual presentation of team proposals and the announcement of the winner took place on November 19. “My heartiest congratulations to all the finalist teams, whose performances, level of research, and understanding of the pertinent issues were truly impressive. I hope to see some of these proposals take shape and bear fruit in the near future,” said Professor Achinthi Vithanage, Associate Director of Environmental Law Programs at Haub Law.

This competition is intended to orient law students toward the development of practicable environmental policy; encourage students to collaborate with policy stakeholders, including from government and the community; catalyze the conceptualization and implementation of innovative solutions to pressing environmental problems; and further our commitment to advancing environmental protection.

The final-round judges who chose the winner were Professor David Kanter, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at New York University and Vice-Chair of the International Nitrogen Initiative; Professor Sarah Matsumoto – Associate Professor of Clinical Education at Williamette University College of Law; Attorney Peter Lehner, Managing Attorney and Director of the Sustainable Food & Farm Program at Earth Justice; and Professor Margot Pollans at Haub Law and Director of ���ҹ����� | Haub Law’s Food Law program. “The judges were particularly impressed by the ambitiousness of the winning team’s proposal and its integration of equity issues in a very meaningful way,” remarked Professor Margot Pollans who delivered the judges’ verdict.

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Last year, a team of students from Drake Law School won the first annual Elisabeth Haub School of Law Environmental Law and Policy Hack Competition.

Watch the finals below

Jeremiah Williams ‘23 has always been a talker. Born in New Orleans and raised in the suburbs of Houston, Jeremiah has honed his skills as a public speaker right here in New York City, where he’s studying political science and communication studies. “I realized at a young age that I was speaking up about things, challenging teachers when something didn’t make sense,” he recalls. “And that a lot of people weren’t comfortable or able to do that.”

While in high school, Jeremiah traveled the country as part of the speech and debate teams, but eventually his public speaking journey brought him to ���ҹ�����’s New York City Campus. His decision to come to ���ҹ����� opened a door to a truly incredible opportunity: taking the podium to address one of the largest international groups in the world.

This fall, Jeremiah was selected as a youth speaker on behalf of ���ҹ����� and the University’s Peace and Justice Studies Department to give a life-altering statement to the United Nations First Committee. He seized the moment to discuss youth engagement and peace, disarmament, and non-proliferation education. It takes courage to find yourself speaking in front of so many countries and non-political organizations, and Jeremiah had no lack of courage when his moment came. A voice for his peers, Jeremiah recognizes the power of speaking up when it counts.

“Sometimes we’re afraid to recognize the power of our voice, but I know the power of mine,” says Jeremiah. “And when it’s on behalf of a cause that’s important to me or a group of people that need to feel heard, I am more than comfortable using my voice for them. My voice isn’t just mine.”

Today, Jeremiah is trying to keep up with the opportunities in his path following his speech to the UN. He was recently invited to speak in a room filled with ambassadors and Heads of State, a place he wouldn’t have dreamed of being at such a young age: “I had never thought I’d be speaking to ambassadors at twenty—I’m still trying to figure out what subway line to take,” he laughs.

“Sometimes we’re afraid to recognize the power of our voice, but I know the power of mine,” says Jeremiah.

Along with pursuing these new experiences, Jeremiah is also the founding president of . His goal is to give people the tools to speak confidently and passionately about matters that they care about. “You see a problem or an issue and you’re surrounded by all of this noise, all of this news, but can you do anything about it? For me, I’ve always innately thought ‘yes’. A lot of people need to be shown that they’re voices are powerful or given the tools to make them feel powerful,” he says.

Jeremiah hopes to help prepare young public speakers for the moments when the spotlight is suddenly on; the moments in which they will need to use their voice when they might not be expecting to do so. This is a challenge Jeremiah is quite excited to take head-on.

“Life’s crazy, and the moments come when you’re not expecting them. Yet, here they are. People need to feel confident and powerful enough to know that their voice matters.”

As the excitement for Commencement 2022 builds, we're asking all members of the ���ҹ����� Community to consider, who embodies the ���ҹ����� spirit and might be worthy of the 2022 Opportunitas in Action Award.

Nominations are open and the deadline to submit your nominee is Friday, December 3. Submit your nomination today.

Award Description

The Opportunitas in Action Award was created in 2019 and is bestowed by the President of ���ҹ�����. This award recognizes an alumna, faculty, staff, current student, business or community volunteer or activist who has been an innovative thinker and has made positive contributions to the community in the spirit of the University's motto Opportunitas. Previous winners include Shirley Acevedo Buontempo, ���ҹ����� alumna and founder of Latino U College Access, and ���ҹ����� professors Matthew Bolton and Emily Welton, for their efforts to abolish nuclear weapons.

Eligibility Requirements

• Any alumnus of ���ҹ�����.
• Any organization or business that is a friend of ���ҹ�����.
• Any faculty, staff, or current Student.
• Demonstrated commitment to, and success in, improving communities through professional or volunteer service, philanthropy, or advocacy.
• Is able to participate in the Commencement ceremony at which the award will be presented.
• Nominated in writing by any alumnus, employee, student, trustee, or friend of ���ҹ�����.

Nominations will be solicited by the chairs of the Steering Committee and reviewed by a Selection Committee made up of students, faculty, and staff. A slate of three nominees, per campus, will be submitted to the President of the University for final decision.

Submit your nomination today

This fall, Dyson students took their coursework beyond the classroom walls, tackling real-world issues and presenting to global policymakers.

In Professor of Political Science Matthew Bolton’s, PhD, class, delivering a statement to the United Nations is considered coursework.

For the past several years, ���ҹ�����’s International Disarmament Institute, the Political Science Department, and the Peace and Justice Studies program have collaborated to craft a joint statement on youth engagement and disarmament education to deliver to the UN’s First Committee during the General Assembly session.

This fall, students in Bolton’s political science class, titled “The Global Politics of Disarmament and Arms Control,” analyzed past statements, General Assembly resolutions, and policy briefing papers to help create this year’s statement, which was delivered on Friday, October 8. Because non-governmental agencies are generally allotted only a short window of time during the session, the statement’s purpose is to represent the position of many groups advocating for youth issues and disarmament education, which focuses on the reduction, control, and elimination of weapons to prevent armed conflict.

Taylor Mangus ’23, Political Science, and Jeremiah Williams ’23, Political Science and Communications, led the effort in collecting research and information from their classmates and reaching out to activists and organizations who are focusing on these issues, nationally and internationally.

“We had to work on getting all of those actors their requested piece of material in the written statement and then extrapolate all of that out and see what we’re going to say,” said Williams. “How are we going to make it impactful? How are we going to make our voices heard?”

The draft that Mangus and Williams crafted was distributed to their classmates and the organizations involved for input and then refined by Mangus, Williams, and Bolton. The final statement centered around the impact of nuclear violence on today’s youth around the globe, underlining the notion that the diversity and intersectionality of young people’s experiences and identities affect the narrative. It urged the First Committee to support and fund disarmament education, as well as to pass this year’s “Youth, disarmament and non-proliferation” resolution, including linkages to other issues such as the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

“One of the biggest challenges I faced when writing the statement was to represent the experiences of people who I had not encountered the same life experiences as,” said Mangus. “It was a very eye-opening experience to touch on the importance of people who are often forgotten in the discussion around disarmament.”

Once finalized, the statement was then signed by 34 global civil society organizations, including two Nobel Peace Prize Laureates.

My hope is that the experience can show students that there are opportunities to influence the world around them and help them learn tools in advocacy and diplomacy.

—Professor Matthew Bolton, PhD

In participating in this experience, ���ҹ����� students like Mangus, Williams, and their classmates are presented the unique opportunity to bring their coursework to life in engaging and tangible ways, using classroom concepts to tackle crucial current issues and affect real change.

“My hope is that the experience can show students that there are opportunities to influence the world around them and help them learn tools in advocacy and diplomacy,” said Bolton. “It can give students insight into how the institutions they are learning about in class actually function.”

In addition to the longer, written statement, Mangus and Williams worked to create the shorter, punchier version that was delivered via Zoom to the First Committee. Williams, selected by his classmates and the Peace and Justice Studies program to present the statement, then put on the finishing touches, using his public speaking background as the president of ���ҹ����� Debates, the University’s student debate team, to finesse the language and delivery.

“After it was done, I took a deep breath, and I was like, ‘I did it. It’s over. The statement has been delivered. This is now part of history, it’s in the record. Your footprint has been made,’” said Williams, who delivered his speech in a blue suit and yellow tie to represent ���ҹ�����’s colors. He also mentioned that, immediately upon the conclusion of the statement, Professor Bolton was receiving praise on social media from the organizations that had contributed, applauding how well the statement and Williams’s delivery represented their position.

“This statement is not only a fantastic experience for ���ҹ����� students, but it is really important for the United Nations to hear the voices of youth and to take them seriously as experts who have very real stakes in the work of the UN,” said Emily Welty, PhD, professor of women’s and gender studies and director of the peace and justice studies program. “What I found so compelling about Jeremiah and Taylor’s statement was that it demonstrated that the work of First Committee cannot be left to diplomats alone but involves all of us.”

After delivering this statement to the UN, Williams and Mangus also addressed First Committee diplomats and civil society advocates at an event on youth inclusion at New York’s Yale Club, an event that also included international ambassadors and UN representatives as fellow speakers.

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Then, in early November, thanks in large part to work from advocates like Williams and Mangus, the First Committee unanimously adopted its biennial “Youth, disarmament, and non-proliferation” resolution. The new version extends beyond the 2019 version, notably including a request that the UN Secretary General “seek the views” of member states, the UN, international organizations, and civil society on youth engagement activities surrounding disarmament and submit a report to the General Assembly in 2023.

Throughout this experience, Williams and Mangus both expressed gratitude for the opportunity to take their coursework beyond the walls of a ���ҹ����� classroom and (virtually) into the chambers of one of the world’s most powerful organizations.

“I personally feel more inspired than I ever have,” said Williams. “I’ve found being in the Political Science Department at ���ҹ����� really rewarding because a lot of the professors are working with the United Nations or are doing independent work or research that I can see and can be a part of.”