DeGroote Brings Home JDCC 2024 ‘School of the Year’
Contributed by Caitlin Costello
After months of preparation, hundreds of hours of research, practices, volunteering, fundraising, coaching, team building and more, the DeGroote School of Business JDCC 2024 delegation of over 40 undergraduate students brought home 17 trophies from this year’s competition, including School of the Year.
Jeux du Commerce Central (JDCC) is the largest undergraduate business school competition in Central Canada, held annually in the winter term. This year’s competition took place January 19 to 21 at St. Lawrence College in Kingston, Ontario.
Over the course of three days, student teams from universities across Ontario, Québec and the Maritimes take part in academic case competitions, parliamentary-style debates, sports tournaments, and social competitions. Teams also volunteer and fundraise for community organizations and charities before the big weekend.
This year was an exceptional one for the DeGroote School of Business team. Students took home a record number of 17 trophies, including top prize “School of the Year” for the second year in a row. DeGroote placed first in the Entrepreneurship, Social and Participation categories with runner-up placements in Finance, Digital Strategy, Marketing, Debate and Human Resources. Raising the most charity dollars (over $14,000 total for 6 organizations), winning the volleyball tournament, and placing third in the pickleball tournament were other notable achievements.
Marcus Marchese, fifth-year Honours Bachelor of Commerce student, was named JDCC Captain of the Year for his leadership and strategy-building. Marchese has participated in JDCC for the past four years. “Within my first year on the team back in 2020 it was DeGroote’s first time ever winning the School of the Year title which at that time was a dream that was being chased for over a decade. As we fast forward to the current day it’s amazing to see how the dream has now become a standard for DeGroote and being able to ignite this drive within others has been beyond rewarding to say the least.”
Other individual award recipients included Aidan Hussey, Volunteer of the Year; Kailer Glanville, Socialite of the Year; and Peter Rugosi, Sportsmanship Award.
To help them prepare for the competition, delegates received coaching from (student) committee executives, and more than 25 faculty members and DeGroote alumni. While the level of their achievements cannot be overlooked, students attribute much of their success to the team’s inclusive and supportive culture. “The thing that continues to make us special year after year is the people within our delegation, and the family atmosphere that every DeGroote delegation has had,” says Marchese.
Jennifer McCleary, Director, Student Experience, DeGroote School of Business and JDCC 2024 Faculty Advisor of the Year, would agree. “Before we left for Kingston, we talked about how we define winning – and it wasn’t only about winning School of the Year, but how you show up. How we show support for each other. How other schools talk about DeGroote.”
“Let me say, DeGroote won on all levels. Their support of each other was inspiring. Every delegate brought their best self to every experience. Not only did they cheer on their own teammates, they cheered for every school,” recounts McCleary, with great pride. “It was a demonstration of the strong business school student community across Canada. We have something truly special here at DeGroote.”
For more details on this year’s delegation, check out @jdccdegroote on Instagram.
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