David Forster Campus Challenge

The winners of this year’s Spark To Start Campus Challenge are Emanuel Popoca and Carina Bustos. Congratulations Emanuel and Carina!

Spark to Start is an annual event to honor David Forster (11) who passed away in 2016 at the age of 27. David was an entrepreneur, a runner, a mentor, and an inspirational force. For many, his guidance and encouragement was the spark needed to start a new challenge. Created to honor David’s memory and example, the Spark to Start is a team-based competition, infused with a series of physical, intellectual, and creative challenges at both the CSB and SJU campuses.

Paul Marsnik, the director of the McNeely Center for Entrepreneurship, reflected on this year’s event. “It’s just so cool to know that my good friend David Forster is still inspiring people. He was such a great guy and I know that he is up there smiling when he sees the students running all over the campuses, using their creativity in so many ways. In one of the challenges, the teams were instructed to articulate the rules of brainstorming in a video. One team got Abbot John Klaasen to recite the rules of brainstorming with a Benedictine twist. Now that’s creativity.”

Information on how you can register and participate in our 2023 event will be posted here, on our social media, and sent out via email. Keep checking back to make sure you don't miss out on this years event!!