Students Win FBLA National Championships

All five University of Scranton undergraduate students placed in the top 10 in the elite national FBLA competition in Dallas, Texas.
A group of six individuals posing in front of an arch made of blue and yellow balloons at an event.
Five University of Scranton students and their club advisor, David Mahalak, D. Eng., assistant professor of operations and analytics, recently attended the Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas. All five students achieved top-10 finishes in their respective categories. From left: Connor Farrington, Joe Walas, Dr. Mahalak, Chaz DellaCorte, Gary Mrozinski and Kaeli Romanowski.

The Future Business Leaders of America National Leadership Conference brings hundreds of the country’s best and brightest college students to Dallas, Texas, all vying to win national titles.

Take, for instance, the Parliamentary Procedure category with 19 qualifiers from 18 colleges in 11 states. There’s also the even more competitive Sports Management and Marketing with 33 competitors representing 27 colleges scattered across 18 states.

The University of Scranton produced national champions in both events.

“That’s a testament to The University of Scranton because my event isn’t necessarily what’s taught in the business school but obviously everything is tied back in some way to what we’re learning in school,” said Kaeli Romanowski ’26, a finance major from Lake Ariel, who earned the top prize in Parliamentary Procedure. “It’s rewarding not just for us as individuals but for University of Scranton FBLA. We’re trying to build a reputation and build membership. This is a great way to do it.”

First-year student Joe Walas ’28, an accounting and finance major from West Islip, New York, earned first-place in Sports Management and Marketing.

“I already had some background in sports,” Walas said. “In high school, I was a journalist for my school newspaper. I dabbled in journalism, I really liked it. But I decided to go a different route. It had set a foundation for me to pursue sports management and marketing and to get where I am now. Also, being a freshman, you’re always looking to get involved on campus; FBLA was a really good avenue to do that.”

Three classmates joined Romanowski and Walas at the event and they, too, finished in the top 10 as part of a historic showing for the University.

Chaz DellaCorte, a finance and accounting major from The Villages, Florida, ranked third in Accounting Case Competition. Gary Mrozinski, a finance major from Taylor, placed seventh in Foundations of Accounting. Connor Farrington, a business analytics and accounting major from Washington, New Jersey, placed ninth in Sports Management and Marketing.

“Hearing your name, even in the top 10, is rewarding enough,” Romanowski said. “It’s incredible: five of us went and we all placed in the top 10.”

Romanowski, who is a standout basketball player, is an FBLA veteran going back to her time at Western Wayne High School. She’s long studied parliamentary procedure, which refers to the rules and practices that ensure fair, orderly and efficient meetings and legislative assemblies.

Both Romanowski and Walas’ competitions were objectively scored as multiple-choice exams.

Romanowski, who’d won the state title weeks earlier, said she exited her exam feeling unsure of how it had gone. Meanwhile, Walas, a state runner-up, felt differently.

“I felt super confident in how it went,” Walas said.

Regardless of their conflicting stances, Romanowski and Walas both aced their tests, leaving Texas with championships and memories. In addition to FBLA activities, they toured the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium and attended a Texas Rangers baseball game at Globe Life Field.

“Special thanks to the University for setting this whole thing up,” Walas said. “It’s not easy to fly kids out to Dallas in the middle of the spring and I’m just appreciative of the experience as a whole.”

Romanowski, Walas, Mrozinski, Farrington and DellaCorte, the club president, attended nationals with David Mahalak, D. Eng., assistant professor of operations and analytics. Dr. Mahalak has served since 2021-22 as Scranton’s advisor for FBLA, which has more than 200,000 members and 5,000 chapters, mostly in the U.S.

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