College of Charleston's Beta Alpha Psi Chapter Earns Gold Status

by Grace Stroup

As the College of Charleston begins a new year, its Mu Beta chapter of Beta Alpha Psi is celebrating a major milestone: earning gold status, a prestigious and international recognition awarded to fewer than one-third of all chapters worldwide. Only about 140 chapters globally received this distinction, placing the College’s chapter among an elite group recognized for excellence in professional development, service and leadership.

Beta Alpha Psi is an international honor organization for financial information students and professionals whose purpose is to engage with members, industry and educational institutions to facilitate workplace readiness, employment, networking and lifelong learning. It encourages the study and practice of accounting, finance, analytics and business technology, and fosters lifelong ethical, social and public responsibilities.

Senior Jackson Gambrell, the Mu Beta chapter president, credits the organization for his newfound approach to leadership.

“Beta Alpha Psi hasn’t just prepared me for a career in accounting; it’s shaped how I lead, serve and show up for others,” he says. “It’s pushed me to lead with both structure and emotion, balancing high professional standards with genuine care for people. Professionally, I’ve grown in strategic planning, team leadership and external relations with firms and alumni. Personally, it’s taught me accountability, humility and how to empower others to step into leadership.”

Service remains a core pillar of the Mu Beta chapter’s work, allowing students to give back to the local community while reinforcing Beta Alpha Psi’s commitment to civic engagement. This year, members supported local organizations such as the Lowcountry Food Bank, Cards for a Cause, the City of Charleston, the Ronald McDonald House and the VA Hospital.

“Our chapter’s vice president and I had the opportunity to personally deliver Veterans Day cards and spend time walking the halls, interacting with veterans and hearing firsthand how meaningful that simple act of encouragement was to them,” says Gambrell. “That experience reminded me that leadership and professionalism aren’t just about resumes or recruiting; they’re about presence, gratitude and service. It brought real heart to our gold status efforts and grounded everything else we did this year.”

Gold status is awarded based on chapter attendance at national and regional meetings, holding an initiation ceremony and hosting at least six community service activities, 12 professional activities and 11 professional outreach activities. To earn credit for these activities, at least 25% of student members must participate. A popular event is Meet the Firms, an annual job fair exclusively for accounting jobseekers.

For the two faculty advisors for the Mu Beta chapter – Kimberly Tribou, assistant professor of accounting, and Karrie Saboe, senior instructor of accounting – the event is an especially exciting achievement. The two spend weeks planning and preparing students for meaningful interaction with accounting firm representatives.

“Outside of watching my students cross the stage at graduation,” Tribou says, “my proudest moment as Beta Alpha Psi co-advisor is watching my students confidently shake hands with accounting firm recruiters at the event.”

In addition to the job fair, chapter members regularly participate in professional skills training led by industry firms. This year, students covered topics like ethical decision-making, interpersonal skills in the workplace, collaboration and workplace engagement, and managing distractions. These trainings are at the core of what Tribou hopes the organization can do for students and highlights the commitment that students in the organization have: to better understand how to be a professional in today’s ever-changing world.

It’s not just about this new distinction, though.

Tribou reiterates that the hope is that the work continues after graduation: “When our Beta Alpha Psi students graduate, I hope they continue engaging with their professional networks and finding ways to give back to their communities.”

Grace Stroup is an M.F.A. candidate in creative writing at the College of Charleston.