American Express Planning Invitational
2005 Fourth Place Finish
Kendra Wise, Lucas Horton, Lacy Wolters
Students Lucas Horton, a financial planning major from Pratt; Kendra Wise, a financial planning major from Ellinwood; and Lacy Wolters, a financial planning and accounting double major from Atwood, represented Fort Hays State University at the American Express Planning Invitational national competition in Minneapolis in April 2005. This team of students participated in three phases of the competition: a written financial plan, an oral presentation of the plan with a twist, and a game show event. FHSU won the oral presentation phase of the competition and placed fourth overall in a very close competition. At the awards ceremony, William Elliott, vice president of financial advice for American Express, said, "I am very proud of this team from a university which has been a perennial powerhouse in this competition for several years. Their presentation was client oriented and showed great compassion." Fort Hays competed with schools from across the nation and was one of only eight teams to be invited to the final round of competition in Minneapolis. The schools placing ahead of FHSU at the finals were Kansas State University, Purdue University, and Texas Tech University.