When junior Yonah Davis received the news that he was DECA president for this year, he said he was excited for the year ahead.

“DECA has been a fantastic opportunity for me, so I‘m just hoping that this year we’ll be able to reach more people and help more people get involved so they can have the same amazing experience that I had,” Davis said.

According to Davis, the leaders of DECA were initiated through the traditional “tied-in” ceremony.

“We had a meeting for DECA before the school year started in which we presented our ideas for what we wanted to do with the chapter during the school year,” Davis said. “On the second week of school we met as an officer team and went through the ritual of what is being called ‘tied-in,’ which is when a specific DECA business tie is given for different positions.”

Davis said he strives to create a group of leaders that communicate and are committed to their roles in DECA.

“We haven’t really had organized and devoted DECA leadership I feel in the past,” Davis said. “We are trying to restructure things a little bit but so far, I have just been involved in facilitating the communication between the officer team and the advisers and helping set meeting times.

According to Davis, DECA remains open to all students interested in joining.

“To be involved in National DECA, there is a really small membership fee but being involved in our chapter when we do volunteering events or just chapter events anybody can join,” Davis said. “I think if anybody does DECA, the way to get the most out of it is by becoming part of National DECA, which allows you to do competitions.”

Davis said DECA is unique in that it allows members to choose their engagement level, within the chapter and nationally.

“There’s lots of ways to get involved and really what’s so cool about DECA is you can choose your level of commitment; you can go all the way and go to every single event and compete in everything or you can remain at the chapter level and work on volunteering projects and helping the community.”

Davis said his goal for the year focuses on making the most of the experiences DECA provides.

“On a personal level, I’m hoping to find an event that interests me and put in my best effort and see where that goes and I am just hoping to be able to build professional relationships with peers and mentors through the DECA network,” Davis said. 

According to Davis, DECA’s next meeting is at 8 a.m. Sept. 28 in B226.