This Saturday the Villanova Entrepreneurial Club celebrated the completion of its first annual Start Up business plan competition. Our group, White House Inc. was originally one of the finalists until we were disqualified due to my status as an electrical engineering grad student. Regardless of the fact that we did not attempt to conceal that fact, and stated it clearly in our business plan, we were still disqualified.

While we were extremely disappointed we understood the judges’ decision. While our team would have preferred to be told of our ineligibility prior to being announced a finalist and working an additional two days, we still understood their actions.

What we did not understand and what greatly upset us was how we were then treated by those in charge of the competition. Not one of the judges or faculty advisors approached us to explain the situation. We suspected there was a problem because of the seven calls I received on my cell phone trying to verify that I was a grad student, yet no one bothered to tell us we were disqualified, or to even congratulate us on a job well done despite the disqualification. Their reaction told us that not only were our 70+ hours of labor wasted, but also that they did not care. In fact, the only person who had the integrity to confront us was the club’s student president, a mechanical engineer.

I hope this not how the Villanova business school teaches its students to react in the real world when confronted with a disagreement. While ignoring your problems and pretending there is nothing wrong may work in the academic world, I am pretty sure it won’t cut it in the business world. Though I could be wrong, I’m only an engineering grad student.