Grove City College is host to many organizations and clubs, like any college or university, however what sets Grove City apart is the propensity for those groups to be founded and run entirely by students. Just one great example of a student run organization is the Student Investment Society which started from the vision of two seniors in 2014, Taylor Schmidt and Josh Logan. They saw a need to put all their book knowledge of finance to the test and gain some real world experience investing. The founders got the club off the ground by working with the business department and garnering interest from students, but Bryan Thomas, Finance ‘16, and Christian Lamarco, Finance ’17, took the organization to the next level. With the support of the business department and a faculty advisor, Thomas and Lamarco submitted a constitution and presented their organization to Grove City College faculty and staff and the Student Investment Society became an official group on campus. SIS meets weekly and boasts close to 30 regular attendees.
But what happens at these meetings?
According to Thomas, their meeting purposes are three-fold. First, the organization looks to be a place where students in business or other majors can come and learn about investing and gain practical experience in how a fund researches, invests and generally functions. Second, they want to promote ethical investment practice and give students experience mirroring real world investment finds. Third, the organization seeks to provide networking with alumni and other finance professionals. The investment society is in the process of gaining alumni funding to manage their own investments on behalf of Grove City College. The investment society is excitedly looking forward to starting to manage real money and network with alumni in the financial field who want to help current Grove City students grow in their investment knowledge and experience.
Thomas and Lamarco took advantage of an opportunity to attend the Carnegie Mellon University Undergraduate Stock Pitching Competition and took second place for their pitch of Nexstar Broadcasting Group. They competed with top talent from target schools and pushed out New York University for second place. Thomas and Lamarco have repeatedly proven that Grove City students can compete with the best finance schools and win.
The Student Investment Society began as a small idea and now is a large campus organization committed to helping students learn investment strategy and eventually find success in financial careers. The Student Investment Society is just one example the unique culture of initiative and innovation found at Grove City. Student’s seeking leadership and responsibility is one of the best things about Grove City, you can make your college experience your own and find support from faculty and staff.
