OSU wins PwC’s national xTAX competition

Monday, January 28, 2013

OSU xTax — School of Accounting students capture first place at the PwC xTREME Games in Washington, D.C. From left, R.J. Parr, Mollie Field, Chase Sprueill, Samantha Garrison, Stephanie Giardina and Spears School of Business instructor Monika Turek.

The Interns, a team comprised of accounting students in Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business, captured first place at PwC’s xTREME Games this past week in Washington, D.C.

Team members Mollie Field, Samantha Garrison, Stephanie Giardina, R.J. Parr, Chase Sprueill and faculty advisor Monika Turek traveled to PwC’s national office in D.C. as one of the five final teams competing for the top prize in the xTAX (short for Extreme Tax) category with hopes of winning the coveted Hamilton Award.

Last fall, 460 teams and 2,300 students competed nationwide in on-campus competitions. The OSU team was one of the five teams selected to compete at PwC's xTAX National Finals.

Oklahoma State is the first university to win nationals in the first year of competition.

“We hope this is the beginning of a great tradition for the OSU School of Accounting,” said Turek, instructor for taxation at the Spears School.

The Interns split a cash prize of $10,000 ($2,000 each) for their selection to nationals and the trip to Washington, D.C., where they competed for the prestigious Hamilton Award, named after Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. Secretary of Treasury. As the winners, each of the five Spears School students will receive an automatic internship with PwC.

In D.C., the Interns plunged into the environment of the real business world to show their skills as critical thinkers, able collaborators, and persuasive advisors on important business issues, competing against four other very competitive universities.

“I could not be more proud of Samantha, Stephanie, Mollie, R.J., and Chase. Wearing ‘America's Brightest Orange,’ the Interns beat Baylor, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Binghamton University by impressing the judges with their creative solution,” said Turek.

“Professor Turek has done an amazing job leading some of our finest students to victory in the PwC xTAX competition. I am continually amazed at the accomplishments of the faculty and students in the School of Accounting. This recognition reinforces a long tradition of excellence in accounting education at Oklahoma State University,” said Robert Cornell, head of OSU’s School of Accounting.

Created by PwC in 2002, the xTREME Games have grown steadily to include more than 2,500 teams and 13,000 participants from nearly 80 schools. PricewaterhouseCoopers has awarded approximately $1.5 million in total prize money to students since xTREME began.

For more information about the xTREME competition contact Monika Turek at monika.turek@okstate.edu or (405) 744-5118.