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Teaching personal finance at the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center

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Teaching personal finance at the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center

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Summer 2025: Dr. Elizabeth Cooper teaches a personal finance course to female inmates at the Philadelphia Federal Detention Center who are nearing release. The curriculum is drawn from the FDIC’s Money Smart program, with a focus on the "Money Smart for Older Adults" module. This program covers key topics such as investing, safe banking practices, recognizing financial exploitation, and preparing for unexpected life events. Through guided lessons, open discussions, and the sharing of personal experiences, participants are encouraged to build confidence in managing financial matters that directly affect their lives.

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Mastery Charter Students during the STEM activity on  December 11, 2024.

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La Salle School of Business partnered with Philadelphia Education Fund for an Ignite STEM workshop on December 11, 2024, welcoming 23 enthusiastic high school students from Mastery Charter. The day kicked off with a warm welcome and light breakfast, followed by an engaging campus tour showcasing La Salle's facilities, classrooms, and student spaces. The hands-on STEM workshops were the highlight of the day – students delved into sports analytics and explored the fascinating microbial world using microscopes.

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Lasallian Thinking Put into Practice in BUS 100 Business Plans

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Lasallian Thinking Put into Practice in BUS 100 Business Plans

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Our BUS 100 freshmen are required to include a "Statement of Social Responsibility" in their Business Plan Projects. We want students to put our Lasallian mission into practice by formalizing their approach to social responsibility. Student teams articulate how their for-profit businesses will be "good corporate citizens" who are socially responsible to their communities, employees, and other stakeholders.

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Andres Rodriguez (BSA and CS double major) and Dr. Nilofar Varzgani presenting at DSAI on November 1, 2024.

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An Data Science Approach to Understanding Stampede Incidents and the Role of Acute Stress Reactions

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An Data Science Approach to Understanding Stampede Incidents and the Role of Acute Stress Reactions

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La Salle Business School Faculty Dr. Nilofar Varzgani and student Andres Rodriguez presented at the University of Colorado Denver Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (DSAI) Symposium about their summer research project. This study utilizes data science and artificial intelligence (AI) to analyze 98 global stampede incidents from the last two decades, testing hypotheses that challenge traditional assumptions about crowd behavior and casualty factors. Using variables, including crowd density, location, event type, and economic inequality (Gini coefficient), they evaluate the dynamics of "panic-driven" incidents, where rapid movement and visible triggers are present. The hypotheses explore correlations between crowd density and stampede likelihood, casualty rates in countries with higher income inequality, and differences in outcomes between indoor and outdoor events.

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BUS 100 Freshmen "Find a Problem; Solve a Problem" in their Entrepreneurial Team Projects

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BUS 100 Freshmen "Find a Problem; Solve a Problem" in their Entrepreneurial Team Projects

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In BUS 100 (Intro to Business Perspectives), freshmen students are encouraged to propose business ideas for their team projects that make a positive impact on society. We use several in-class group activities to focus students on real-world problems that need solving. For example: single-use packaging, fast fashion, food insecurity, challenges of the elderly, etc.

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La Salle's Gamma Iota Sigma Chapter Offers Life Lessons to Middle-Schoolers

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La Salle's Gamma Iota Sigma Chapter Offers Life Lessons to Middle-Schoolers

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Faculty members and undergraduate students from La Salle University participated in an outreach event aimed at engaging 7th and 8th graders from Philadelphia's John F. McCloskey School in a variety of interactive and educational activities. In partnership with ManUpPHL, a non-profit organization working to end gun violence, faculty and students from La Salle's Risk Management and Insurance fraternity Gamma Iota Sigma led the event. Fostering a collaborative environment, the middle schoolers offered ideas on career choices for themselves while the event leaders connected and provided leadership by emphasizing the Lasallian experience and exploring topics related to their career interests such as finance, real estate, the arts, mathematics, and sports management. The event encouraged critical thinking, teamwork, and curiosity, aiming to inspire these middle school students to consider higher education and explore academic interests. By the end of the day, both 7th and 8th graders had gained valuable insights into the subjects covered, with many expressing enthusiasm about future learning opportunities. Faculty and undergraduate participants also noted the rewarding experience of mentoring this next generation of learners.

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Using Local Germantown Businesses as an Arena for Learning

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Using Local Germantown Businesses as an Arena for Learning

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Students in MKT 371 (Consumer Behavior) enjoyed a visit from the Germantown United Community Development Corporation who introduced the bustling Germantown community businesses and discussed the wonders and challenges of the corridor. Students then selected one of the 300 local businesses as the focus for their semester-long applied consumer behavior project. Student-selected businesses included Ultimo Coffee, Bargain Thrift Center, Salam Cafe, and Das Good Cafe. As part of the project, students were required to visit the local business to highlight strengths, based on content learned in class, and to identify strategic areas for improvement. Discussions on site with the professor helped students step off campus, sample the products/services offered by the business, immerse themselves in the local community, and provided a platform for the application of course content. In some cases, students had the opportunity to speak with staff or the owner of the local business. The local businesses benefit from increased visibility from La Salle students and the patronage. Students benefit from recognizing that our community is an asset and is perhaps an even more exciting arena for applying course content than mainstream or Fortune 500 businesses.

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Center for Entrepreneurship Supports Community Businesses

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Center for Entrepreneurship Supports Community Businesses

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Students working in the Center for Entrepreneurship work to support small and startup companies as they learn what it takes to be an entrepreneur. One of our current projects is helping Requp'd, a mission-based enterprise focused on employing adults with mental and physical disabilities by manufacturing and marketing consumer items such as grill brushes and bottle openers using broken, discarded ice hockey sticks. Students are assisting with business strategy, cost accounting, marketing plans, social media channel content, and new distribution models. The Center for Entrepreneurship is available to all La Salle students.

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La Salle's Risk Management Students Advocating for their Peers on Career Development

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La Salle's Risk Management Students Advocating for their Peers on Career Development

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In February 2024, four students enrolled in Dr. Jeff Roman's 3-credit course RMI 314 (Risk Management and Insurance) embarked on a special mission in support of equity in career development. Bella Auletta, Brendan Fry, Cagatay Ozbay, and Riley Stradling volunteered their combined talents in an extracurricular assignment built from 314 course material. Their task was to canvas current La Salle undergrads and gather data on how they acquire career skills and build towards achieving their career dreams and aspirations, an important pillar within President Allen's ASCEND 2028. After consulting with Dr. Roman, the team deployed multiple methods of exploration and problem solving and developed an electronic student survey. All current undergrads from each of the 3 La Salle schools were contacted via email and the return on this effort was immediate and informative. Over 100 responses were received within the first 3 hours of launch and over 200 at the time of survey closure. The data provided critical insights into what students believe to be the most relevant for building career-oriented skills across all La Salle schools. The survey further highlighted how some students had "leg up" benefits who were connected from legacy and alumni connections, while "first gen" students expressed their unique optimism to gain from equitable, accessible and rewarding opportunities for career preparedness. The data is available for further analysis by the University's ASCEND 2028 workgroups and will supplement other research efforts.

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Students examining samples of pond water, April 24, 204.

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High School Students test samples of pond water for the J&J Bridge to Employment Workshop 

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High School Students test samples of pond water for the J&J Bridge to Employment Workshop 

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High School Students from Mastery Charter (Lenfest & Shoemaker Campuses) assessed the health of two different ponds by studying the organisms that live in the pond. This workshop was a part of a series of workshops arranged for the Johnson & Johnson Bridge to Employment Program. Students learned about aquatic ecosystems and organism roles within them. This workshop was hosted by Dr. Flo Ling (Environmental Science) to introduce environmental science and conservation principles, highlighting the importance of ecosystems and their preservation.

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Team Explorers, LaSallian Case Competition 2024

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La Sallian Societal Impact Case Competition

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La Sallian Societal Impact Case Competition

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On April 12, 2024, Team Explorers comprising of Jaeda Butler (Class of 2024), Andres Hernandez (Class of 2025), Grayce Sweeny (Class of 2026), and Chude Uzoka-Anofienem (Class of 2025) participated in the 3rd Annual La Sallian Case Competition against 9 national and international teams. The team was coached by Dr. Nilofar Varzgani, while Dr. Pat Coyle served on the organizing committee of the competition, and Dr. Tom Adams was one of the faculty judges. Team Explorers presented a post-mortem analysis on the Theranos Fraud case, identifying all the failure points, arguing for accountability of various people involved using different ethical perspectives, and giving recommendations for both policy makers and venture capitalists.

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La Salle Faculty Representation at the CDRD at CHOP 2024.

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Community-Driven Research Day at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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Community-Driven Research Day at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

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La Salle is now a new co-sponsor of Community-Driven Research Day at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, along with a number of other local universities. Community-Driven Research Day (CDRD) is a program that encourages collaboration between researchers and community-based organizations (CBOs)/community groups that have research questions they are interested in answering. Through CDRD, Community-Based Organizations (CBOs) and community groups interested in developing partnerships to conduct research participate in an interactive rapid presentation that highlights their mission, goals, and major accomplishments and displays research questions they are interested in answering to health and equity for their community members.

The 2024 Community-Driven Research Day was held on February 9, 2024 in Philadelphia. The event opened with a panel of past CDRD awardees and community-driven research experts presenting on effective community-academic collaborations. Following the panel discussion, CBOs and community groups participated in an interactive poster session to highlight research questions of interest to researchers, public sector partners and others interested in community-academic partnerships.

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Remembering our military with  holiday wishes and gratitude: DSP delivers with hand-written notes for veterans and active members

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Remembering our military with  holiday wishes and gratitude: DSP delivers with hand-written notes for veterans and active members

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La Salle’s Chapter of Delta Sigma Pi (DSP), our professional co-ed business fraternity, recently met for their final chapter meeting of the semester.  To complete their community service initiatives, the student members selected the Holiday Cards for Military organization. Students produced nearly 50 hand-written holiday notecards to be sent to active and veteran members of our US Military. This organization sends nearly 120,000 cards to our “warriors” each holiday season.  Chapter President Brendan Fry noted, “Delta Sigma Pi’s mission embodies community service, and this was a great exercise to give back to those veterans serving overseas who will not be home during this holiday season. This meeting was a great time to reflect not only on our accomplishments this semester, but also to participate in this impactful national card writing challenge.” (www.militaryholidaycardchallenge.com)

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MKT 375 Visit to New Weavers Way Co-op Store in Germantown

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Exploring Alternative Business Models for Social Change: Weavers Way Co-op

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Exploring Alternative Business Models for Social Change: Weavers Way Co-op

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Traditional business models focus on maximizing profit for shareholder wealth. In MKT 375: Marketing for Social Change, students explore nontraditional models and their potential for social impact. The course content is brought to life through site visits such as Weavers Way Co-op, a grocery store cooperative that is being built on Chelten Ave, less than 2 miles from La Salle. Students had the opportunity to tour the grocery store that is set to open in the next two months and learn about the co-op model from Jon Roesser, General Manager and a La Salle alumnus. Students learned about the 11,500 member ownership, efforts to balance the triple bottom line of people, planet and profit, and the potential impact of bringing commerce to an area that is often ignored.

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Introducing La Salle's newest Student Resource Group: The Financial Literacy Club

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Introducing La Salle's newest Student Resource Group: The Financial Literacy Club

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The club’s main focus is to provide guidance and education on budgeting, savings, investing, credit and debt management, tax planning, retirement planning, and insurance. Membership in the club is open to all students enrolled at La Salle University. Members are expected to attend meetings, participate in club activities, and support the purpose of the club. The club will organize a variety of programs and activities to educate members about personal finance and help them develop their financial literacy skills. In the Fall 2023, their first event featured guest speaker La Salle Professor Emeritus Dr. Bruce Leauby. Other events will be scheduled for the school year including workshops, seminars, and field trips.

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Reducing Urban Blight and its Impact on Health Inequalities

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Reducing Urban Blight and its Impact on Health Inequalities

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Scholarly research (Bennett 2012) documents how litter is a pervasive social problem which impacts the health and well-being of inner-city residents, many of who had no role in creating the condition, but can ill afford to live in neighborhoods without a pervasive litter problem. Research reported in the American Journal of Public Health (2016) underscores the relationship between urban blight reduction strategies-- such as cleaning up and greening vacant lots --with reductions in stress and even firearm violence. Other research shared by Malcolm Gladwell in the Tipping Point reveals that when neighborhoods are physically cleaned up, other improvements follow such as reduced crime and new business development. People start to see possibilities and build new habits.

Armed with this science, Dr. Reardon's La Salle BUS 303 students studying ethics and corporate social responsibility ("CSR") got to work, cleaning up our surrounding neighborhood modelling how they will practice CSR and lead by example in their chosen fields.

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Copyright 2020 Karen Reardon, Megan Schoen & Jaime Longo. Use of cover art entitled "Might, Could" generously donated by community artist Moe Booker.

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Tackling The Hard Conversations on Race and Inequality: By La Salle Students, For La Salle Students

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Tackling The Hard Conversations on Race and Inequality: By La Salle Students, For La Salle Students

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Inspired by the writings of her Business Law students and an interdisciplinary cross campus faculty working group on diversity, equity and inclusion, Dr. Karen Reardon and colleagues collected and published student writings on these important topics. For the past three years, Dr. Reardon has facilitated classroom conversations in undergraduate sections of Business Law (BUS 303) and Dispute Resolution (MGT 353) as well as MBA 840 Frameworks for Socially Responsible Decision Making opening student minds and hearts to the experiences of others across the color spectrum. Students learn from each other that, whether or not they are part of the problem, we all must actively be part of building a more equitable and inclusive future. Learning to listen empathetically and talk intelligently about such issues is an important first step. The modest royalties from the sale of the book exclusively support department and program diversity, equity and inclusion work at La Salle.

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Students from La Salle’s Business Scholars Co op Program Learn How an Underserved Population Can Create Job Opportunities 

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Students from La Salle’s Business Scholars Co op Program Learn How an Underserved Population Can Create Job Opportunities 

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Finance Professor Dr. Jeff Roman presented his research on Philadelphia entrepreneurship. During this Lunch & Learn, faculty and students learned from his dissertation how African Americans’ education, background and experiences provide meaningful opportunities and pathways to creativity and leadership. Critical to the findings within Roman's research was the awareness of universal 21st century traits such as adaptability, passion, grit and self-awareness that each of these scholars can embody to affect change within their communities and chosen passions. The discussion was enhanced through a robust Q&A that connected similarities in the journey to entrepreneurism from the perspective of gender and other non-white groups including international.

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La Salle’s Undergraduate and MBA students unravel Unbanked and Underbanked

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La Salle’s Undergraduate and MBA students unravel Unbanked and Underbanked

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Dr. Elizabeth Cooper’s undergrad students in 306 (Financial Services Industry) and MBA students in 748 (Financial Markets/Instruments) discuss statistics and background of the “unbanked” and “underbanked” population in the US, a topic that is close-to-home for many La Salle students and their families. Classroom dialogue and home assignments use case study, video media and articles to discuss:

·       alternative financial services such as payday lending and check cashing,

·       what federally insured and regulated financial services are available, and

·       how low-income households are impacted.

We take time to think about the prevalence of this trend, why it is not changing, and how increased awareness and knowledge on these topics promote ideals of equity and inclusion through the financial markets.

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Left to Right: School of Business students Laura McCann, Liam O'Connor, and Stephanie Acevedo representing La Salle University. 

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Team La Salle finished 2nd in the 2nd Annual Lasallian Social Impact Case Competition 2023 hosted by La Salle School of Business.

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Team La Salle finished 2nd in the 2nd Annual Lasallian Social Impact Case Competition 2023 hosted by La Salle School of Business.

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On April 14, 2023, the School of Business hosted the 2nd Annual Lasallian Case Competition in which six Lasallian schools participated. The Lasalle School of Business team was composed of Laura McCann, Liam O'Connor, and Stephanie Acevedo and was mentored by Dr. Nilofar Varzgani. The six teams were assigned the task of analyzing a case study involving Apple on the topic of data privacy. The case study tackles the important debate about the balance between privacy and safety in the digital age. All teams provided nuanced and thought-provoking analysis of the issue, arguing that the balance between privacy and safety is a complex one that must be constantly re-evaluated in light of new technologies and threats. The students were able to identify that it is important for companies like Apple to be transparent about their security practices, and to give users the ability to choose the level of privacy they want.

La Salle University alum, Peg Forrestel ’92, Director of Community Impact at Johnson & Johnson, gave the key note speech at the end of the competition, highlighting J&J's commitment to the communities that they serve.

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The Financial Reality Fair increases awareness for students and helps prepare them for the future.

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La Salle's Business School and TruMark Financial Credit Union host Financial Reality Fair

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La Salle's Business School and TruMark Financial Credit Union host Financial Reality Fair

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Business School students participated in a Financial Reality Fair hosted by TruMark Financial Credit Union to increase awareness and learn about budgeting living expenses post-graduation. The event was attended by students, LaSalle alumni and professionals, community members, and volunteers of both PA's Credit Union organizations and TruMark Financial employees. The Financial Reality Fair educated students about managing monthly expenses. Credit Unions are not-for-profit organizations that serve the needs of their members, rather than stockholders, offering lower rates on loans, higher rates on savings, and fewer and lower fees, raising awareness about budgeting, saving, credit score and other financial awareness initiatives. Business executives and community members engaged directly with students on-campus for this experiential learning opportunity.

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La Salle's Partnership with J&J BTE Program

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La Salle's Partnership with J&J BTE Program

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La Salle University will offer a variety of Academic Enrichment, Career Readiness & Exploration, Higher Education Preparation, and Community Engagement and Leadership opportunities to high school students in Philadelphia in order to achieve the long-term outcomes of
1) Increasing the number of students who enroll in higher education, and
2) Increasing the number of students pursuing a career in the STEM2D sectors.

Our Lasalle students are serving as peer mentors to these high school students and providing valuable guidance to them in their pursuit of higher ed!

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La Salle partners with Johnson & Johnson on education initiative for high school students

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The Bridge to Employment program provides students with enhanced academic and real-world experiences.

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An associate professor of marketing at La Salle’s School of Business, Dr. Pierce partnered with a Northwest Philadelphia nonprofit, Face to Face Germantown, to assess the impact of its support services for the disadvantaged Philadelphians it serves. More specifically, Dr. Pierce and her students analyzed Face to Face Germantown’s work to connect its guests with personal identification documents and the subsequent effect of this work. Data collected from this and prior research projects conducted by La Salle faculty and students helped Face to Face Germantown secure a one-time, evaluation capacity building initiative (ECBI) grant from Pew Charitable Trust in 2019, to help the nonprofit build a tool for future data collection.

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The role of ID cards in disadvantaged communities-and how this La Salle professor and her students are making a difference

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Research by Meghan Pierce, Ph.D., and La Salle students helped assess the significant impact of a Northwest Philadelphia nonprofit.

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BUS 102 Students partner with Face to Face Germantown

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BUS 102 Students partner with Face to Face Germantown

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Students spend time making peanut butter and jelly (PB&J) sandwiches for a local soup kitchen, Face to Face of Germantown, an organization that serves lunch to many needy, unfortunate people. The goals of this project are to open students' eyes to the world where there are many people not as fortunate as we are, give back to the community, practice some of the managerial accounting concepts discussed in class, and hopefully have some fun along the way.

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Connecting our Core Values with classroom curriculum in BUS 150

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Connecting our Core Values with classroom curriculum in BUS 150

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In BUS 150, Presentation & Collaboration Skills, our classroom project, Lasallian & Learning to Give, provides students the opportunity to demonstrate an understanding and awareness of social responsibility and community needs through a presentation and plan. It is a collaborative exercise which mandates selecting a service-learning opportunity based on needs/issues. Groups are encouraged to focus on an organization or cause in the Philadelphia area that would benefit from this support of action or awareness.  The La Salle University Ministry & Service website is often referenced to support those group affiliations, and this is strongly encouraged.  Our own La Salle Basket and non-profits started by alumni have been selected.  Students enthusiastically embrace not only the concepts and requirements, but most importantly, the focus on our Lasallian mission and traditions of creating awareness, advocacy and action.