The Rutgers–Newark College Fed Challenge Team, coached by economics department chair John Graham, took third place in the national finals of the 2006 College Fed Challenge – the team’s first trip to this level of competition.
The team took on Northwestern University, Boston College, and Virginia Commonwealth University November 28 in Washington, D.C. Between the national and the New York Federal Reserve District competitions, the Rutgers–Newark Fed Challenge team brought home a total of $25,000 in prize money ($12,000 to be divided among the students and $13,000 for the campus economics department), as well as a trophy from the New York Federal Reserve Bank. The Moody’s Foundation provided the prize money.
To be selected for the national finals, the team first had to win the district competition, which it did November 17 in New York City. That competition began with a field of 26 colleges, and the Rutgers–Newark team of eight undergraduate students had to survive two initial rounds before ultimately defeating SUNY–Geneseo, Rutgers–New Brunswick and New York University’s Leonard N. Stern School of Business.
The eight members of the team are Bill Joseph Jr. of
Jersey City, a junior economics and accounting major; Miodrag “Mike” Kapor of
Edison, a senior economics major; Kristina Lopez of Elizabeth, a senior finance
major; Jared Mijares of Teaneck, a junior economics major; Ron Mosseri of New
York City, who will graduate this month with an economics degree; Sneha Pendse
of Parsippany, a senior finance and computer science major; Anthony Restaino of
Nutley, a senior majoring in economics; and Andrew Verdon, a junior from
Marlboro majoring in economics and finance.
The team had competed in the College Fed Challenge only once before – last year, when it placed second out of five schools in the first round. SUNY–Geneseo won last year’s championship, with Rutgers–New Brunswick placing second. Neither of those two made the 2006 national competition. “As you can imagine, this year both Rutgers–New Brunswick and Geneseo were heavily favored to be the top two teams. Our win was a real surprise to many – although not to us,” Graham said.
The first Rutgers–Newark Fed Challenge team was started last year by Newark College of Arts and Sciences 2006 alumnus Peter Eberhard, who now works for the Federal Reserve Board in Washington, according to Graham.
In each of the two competitions, five members from each team act as the monetary policy committee of the Federal Reserve, which makes the nation’s monetary decisions. Team members give a 20-minute presentation and conclude with a recommendation concerning the prime interest rate; based on their research, the Rutgers–Newark team opted to hold the line on the rate.
“The actual competition was a nerve-racking experience,” Mijares said. “It was almost frightening to make a presentation before a panel of judges consisting of Wall Street economists, respected academics, and Fed officials.”
Since all but three team members will be graduating this year, Graham and the team are already recruiting students for the 2007 Fed Challenge. The group will meet early Friday mornings, and volunteers are forewarned to be “ready to give up your Thursday nights and develop a real work ethic,” Restaino said. But all of the teammates echo Pendse’s reaction: “It was an amazing experience and a privilege to be a part of this team.”