Last semester, students from the Naveen Jindal School of Management’s Chi Psi chapter of the Delta Sigma Pi Professional Business Fraternity (DSP) won two awards for work they did to implement community service and professional development programs.

The national organization, in existence since 1907, includes members of the business community, college students and university alumni, faculty and administrators. The JSOM chapter was formed in 2018.

Dr. Sarah Moore, an associate professor of instruction of business communication in the Jindal School’s Organizations, Strategy and International Management Area, said that the UTD chapter of DSP sets an example of how students can balance service, professional development and fun.

“DSP has impressed me since my first semester teaching at UTD,” she said. “I watched as my freshmen pledged the organization and came back a year later to recruit new students. Their professional development including their communication skills growth was immediately evident. It’s an honor to advise such a professional organization, and I’m thrilled to see the leadership recognized for their success.”

The fraternity won a national award, Outstanding Professional Activities for a Collegiate Chapter, and a provincial award, Outstanding Service for a Collegiate Chapter.

The awards were announced virtually in September.

Mashal Iqbal, a junior double major in global business and marketing, joined the fraternity in the fall semester of her freshman year at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I knew absolutely no one (while I was) sitting at home and I thought DSP would be a great opportunity for me to make some friends as well as meet people who have likewise goals and aspirations as me,” she said. “Toward the end of that semester, I was elected as chancellor. I was chancellor throughout my sophomore year and now, as a junior, I’m president.”

As chancellor, Iqbal ensured that all chapter meetings and proceedings conform to parliamentary procedures and rules of order. She said that the chapter leadership, which included Arshiya Waghela, a finance senior, was responsible for planning the portfolio of professional activities in which the students participated during the 2021-22 academic year. Waghela had contacts from two of the Big Four accounting firms. One of them came to UT Dallas to speak with the students about how he built his career. They also had a professional networking event that featured Dr. Howard Dover, a clinical professor in the Marketing Area at the Jindal School and director of the Center for Professional Sales.

Chapter members held a mass food drive and donated more than 750 pounds of preservable food to local food banks around the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, which helped them win the community service award.

Iqbal said the organization has given her a platform to be confident and she is always surrounded by people who want to see her succeed.

“I think there’s kind of a notion in the business world where you’re always being faced in competition with your peers, and although those may be your best friends, you do feel that you always have to one-up them because the business world is so competitive,” she said. “DSP gives me an environment where I don’t feel that area of competitiveness just because I’m always pushed to succeed by my fellow members.”

Iqbal said she knows fellow members always have her best interests in mind and she tries to foster that environment whenever she can.

Moore recommends that all UT Dallas undergraduate students find a club or fraternity to join.

“JSOM is lucky to have multiple business fraternities and other professional organizations for students,” she said. “These groups not only do good for the students, but also they do good for the community and the world.”