Allegheny College joined 18 colleges and universities participating in the 2021 Econ Games on March 12, 2021. The Econ Games are an experiential learning experience frequently referred to as “an internship in a day” for participating students. This year, the competition was held virtually the first week in March with additional networking and development opportunities throughout February. Assistant Professor of Economics and Faculty Advisor, Dr. Kathryn Bender led the way recruiting students from all majors to participate in this data analytics and research event designed to help students solve real-world problems.
Students were challenged by a corporate sponsor to help them solve a business problem. This year’s data collaborator was the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and the theme was “Public Policy.” The event sponsors included StataCorp, Northern Kentucky University Center for Economic Education, and the University of Kentucky Institute for the Study of Free Enterprise. At the end of the final day, the students presented their results. Students also heard presentations from industry leaders about how they use economics and data analysis at their firm. The event included opportunities for students to build lasting personal and professional connections with peers and businesses in the region.
Dr. Bender commented, “I think the important lesson from this experience is that students learned what professional economists do in the real world. They had to not only analyze a complex data set, but they needed to draw conclusions from the data, then link the conclusions to policy implications. This effort required students to draw from all of the classes they have taken while at Allegheny to compete.”
Three Allegheny teams took on the challenge:
| Quigleys | StataGators | Investigators |
| Sarah Schmidt George Ackerman Megan Dennis Clarissa Miller Wonjoon Cho |
Morgan Douglas Kyrie Doniz Kaleel Van Voorhees |
Adriana Solis Zachary Ioli Kevin Lee Noah Tart Maya Ginter-Frankovitch |
For more information or to express interest in future participation or sponsorship, email Professor Kathryn Bender, faculty advisor, kbender@allegheny.edu.