University of Southern Mississippi business students captured four out of eight awards presented at the Mississippi Cotton Merchandising Competition held Nov. 20 at Mississippi State University in Starkville. While 45 merchandising plans were entered in the completion, only 17 were chosen for the final competition at Mississippi State University.
Southern Miss students who took home awards included the following: Angela Kelly (interdisciplinary studies major with emphases in merchandising and graphic design) and Esther Gaffney (interior design major) who won the grand prize for Best in Show; Morgan McQueen (merchandising major) who won first place in the T-shirt/Denim Category; Emily Stokely, Elise Casadaban and Kolbe Slote (interior design majors) who won first place in Textile/Apparel Products Category; Ellen Douglas (communication studies major minoring in merchandising) who won second place in the Textile/ Apparel Products Category.
These students were all enrolled in merchandising courses and entered the competition as part of class projects for Textiles Industrial Complex, a junior level merchandising course and international policy and retail strategy, a senior level merchandising course.
The competition was made possible by a grant from the Importer Support Program of the Cotton Board and Cotton Incorporated, and was a joint partnership between the three Mississippi universities, which offer fashion merchandising programs: The University of Southern Mississippi, Delta State University and Mississippi State University.
