SNU professor, Elicia Brannon-Little, D.M., creates hands-on learning experiences by having students in her business courses participate in serving the community. She said these assignments help teach business students how to bring Christ into the workplace through their actions in ways that can “impact their coworkers without saying a word.”
Brannon-Little’s International Business course participated in a canned food drive to assist Rebecca Garcia’s family while they are experiencing food insecurity because of stolen SNAP benefits. After hearing about Garcia’s story on the news, Brannon-Little believed it would be a meaningful opportunity to help and involve students in service learning. She explained that she thinks it was a God moment that she stopped and reached out. Other students and community members joined in. The class’s project was featured on Oklahoma’s News 4 nightly report on Oct. 10, 2025, and awareness grew when SNU President Keith Newman shared the story with faculty through email.
In her Principles of Management course, Brannon-Little divided students into teams and had them each select a nonprofit organization to raise $250. She said students are more engaged when they get the opportunity to raise funds for a cause they care about. She sets the goal at $250 to give students the experience of stepping out of their comfort zone to make a bigger difference. Students gain hands-on practice with the management functions they learn about in lectures.
Marcos Soto’s group chose to raise funds for the Bethany Children’s Health Center Expansion Project. The accounting major wanted to support a local cause. He said he was touched by the Health Center after visiting with his teammates on the SNU football team to participate in a parade for pediatric patients. His role in the group included creating the GoFundMe account and tracking donations with Excel, using skills he learned in Computer Applications last semester. He is driven by a desire to help others. After switching markets in the middle of the project and stepping out of their comfort zone, the team hit their goal of $750. They celebrated with high fives and excitement, both for meeting their goal early and for supporting a meaningful cause. Soto mentioned that the project helped him learn to make time to care for others and to use the skills he learns in his classes.
Wyatt Brown chose to support the Jesse Boshears Memorial Scholarship, which honors a late football player from Brown’s hometown of Perryville, Arkansas. Brown, with help from friends from Ouachita Baptist University, ran a football camp attended by 20 kids in Perryville to raise funds for the scholarship. He used skills from Principles of Management to organize the camp. Brown said, “The best part was seeing the entire community come together to support someone who made such a positive impact on their lives. It was a meaningful experience that reminded me of the power of community. It also means a lot to Jesse’s family to keep his memory alive through something that helps others.”
Seeing students use their time to help others and mobilize support makes Brannon-Little smile every day. The reward for her is getting to help people and watching students realize that the world is bigger than just them and that they can make an impact on the kingdom of heaven.
Photo provided by: Dr. Elicia Brannon-Little