History of Louisiana DECA

The first marketing curriculum was first taught in Louisiana in 1940.  DECA, the student professional association, was organized in 1946 to expand the curriculum and offer competitive events to the students. Representatives of 13 marketing programs across the state met that year to lay the foundation for a state association and Louisiana representatives attended the first two national conferences in 1947 and 1948 and was one of the original charter member states.  The first Louisiana DECA Constitution was adopted at its state conference in 1948. 

The first Louisiana State Advisor was Donovan R. Armstrong (1945-55). Other state advisors have been L.W. Ferguson (1955-63), Tom G. Hollimon (1963-64), William E. Johnson (1964-65), H.E. Ruppert (1965-68; 1973-80), Kevlin B. Braum (1968-70), Carol Borskey (1970-73; 1982-2000), Martha Kyzer (1980-82), Deborah Wilson (2000-2003), and Paul Grethel (2003-present).  Mark Bednarz of Thibodaux was elected as one of DECA’s national officers in the earlier years and Toni Martin served as a national Alumni chair. 

Today over 100 charters have been awarded to Louisiana schools. Membership is open to students, advisors, alumni, and professionals.  Louisiana state dues for students are $8/year; national dues are also $8/year.  Both state and national dues are sent in to the National DECA Office.

Louisana DECA has many conferences during the school year.  The Fall Leadership Conference is held in early October and is generally for chapter leaders to organize and plan their chapter action plan to focus on what they want to accomplish during the school year through DECA activities.  The La. DECA Sports & Entertainment Marketing Career Conference is held in December and is used to expose members to marketing-related careers in Sports Marketing and in Entertainment Marketing.  The NBA New Orleans Hornets have teamed up with La. DECA to help bring this conference to life.  The Louisiana State Career Development Conference (CDC) is held in Baton Rouge in the spring of each year.  To meet the needs of its student members, chapters and advisors, the State CDC has emerged, not just as a competitive events program, but as a complete leadership experience.   Additionally, state officers participate in leadership training in Baton Rouge during the summer months.

Louisiana DECA has had the support of outstanding businesses and businesspeople throughout the years. The Louisiana Retailers and the Sears, Roebuck Foundation, and Winn Dixie were the first to contribute support to the state association. In 1987 National DECA awarded Nick Perez, president of the Louisiana Retailers, the National DECA Award of Merit at the Career Development Conference in New Orleans for his and his organizations support of Louisiana DECA. Currently, the Louisiana Retailers continue their support of the marketing programs through grants that marketing educators can get for their classrooms through MERA (Marketing Education-Retail Alliance).