CANTON – St. Lawrence University’s Fed Challenge team earned second place overall out of 85 colleges and universities in the 17th annual National College Fed Challenge.

St. Lawrence, the only liberal arts college to earn a spot in the final round, defeated finalists Princeton University, Miami University, Michigan State University, and Virginia Commonwealth University. The Federal Reserve announced results on Friday, Nov. 20.

The competition, which was won by Dartmouth College, encourages students to learn about the U.S. economy, monetary policymaking, and the role of the Federal Reserve System while playing the role of monetary policymakers, analyzing economic conditions, and recommending a course for monetary policy. They competed virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic and were evaluated on economic analysis, responses to judges’ questions, teamwork, and presentation.

St. Lawrence’s Fed Challenge presenting team, which competed in the Q&A for the semifinals and finals, included Emily Green, Kai-Sigurd Jensen, Samuel McMillan, Julia Mulhern, and Hunter Rodrick. The entire team included Jeffrey Yaun (presenting team alternate), as well as Olivia Botting, Max Hagan, Christopher Jeffrey, Max Lautenberg, Ross MacMahon, Bryan McLennan, Anders Newberg, Sam Sapnar, Andrew Terhune, and Zejian Zhou. The team’s advisor is Charles A. Dana, and Cynthia Bansak, professor of Economics and a former economist at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System who taught St. Lawrence’s Fed Challenge course for more than a decade.

While this was the first time a St. Lawrence team competed in the final round of the national challenge, team members felt they had two additional advantages: their liberal arts background and St. Lawrence’s alumni network.

In addition to Bansak, St. Lawrence’s entire economics department helped the team prepare. The team benefited greatly from the expertise of assistant professor of Economics Shuwei (Jolly) Zhang, visiting assistant professor of government Zenel Garcia, and Lynn Smith Fox, a former senior official of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors and spouse of University President William L. Fox.

The 85 schools from across the country that participated in this year’s College Fed Challenge took part in local virtual competitions beginning in October. St. Lawrence was one of three teams from the New York Region selected for the semifinals, where 18 teams participated in Q & A sessions held the week of Nov. 9. St. Lawrence won the New York Region to earn a spot in the national final.