Early Stage Impact

As early as 2006, Tiffany Flippen, along with Nia Cooper, took the necessary steps to create the original chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants at VSB.

This story was originally published in the Summer 2007  Issue of Villanova Business magazine, and is republished here with minor edits. 

The VSB community remains steadfast in its commitment to increase diversity within business education and business leadership. In August 2006, accounting sophomore Tiffany Flippen ‘09 VSB, along with Nia Cooper ‘07 VSB, approached VSBs then accountancy department chair, Wayne Bremser, about introducing a student chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants (NABA). Six months later, they were in the planning phase of the VSB student chapter kick-off event. 

Cooper proactively recruited prospective members for the chapter, petitioning via email and securing enough signatures to warrant a certified Villanova membership. Together, she and Flippen established an executive board on which they serve as a vice president and president, respectively.

On March 19, 2007, Cooper, Flippen, Dominique Alexander (junior and acting treasurer), Erica Elm (junior and acting vice president of marketing), and Christopher Rogers (freshman and executive assistant) celebrated their first official NABA membership with members of NABA’s Philadelphia professional chapter, representatives of Ernst & Young - who sponsored the event - and keynote speaker Allen Boston, America's director of campus and diversity recruiting for Ernst & Young.

The new NABA chapter is already a great source of excitement at VSB. “I was pleased to accept our students' invitation to become the NABA faculty advisor,” said Bremser. “We are making great progress toward increasing diversity in our accounting program.”

The student chapter of NABA welcomes all Villanova Students. Student membership is designed primarily to address the needs of those majoring in accounting, finance, and business administration, but also includes interests of non-business majors, including business etiquette, networking, and money management.