University of North Georgia

University of North Georgia student Ashleigh Slaughter took first place out of 140 competitors at the National Collegiate Sales Competition (NCSC) at Kennesaw State University in March, and UNG's student team took third overall out of 70 schools competing.

A group of five UNG students won the fifth annual innovateUNG Pitch Challenge held on Feb. 21 at the University of North Georgia's Dahlonega Campus.

The University of North Georgia (UNG) poultry judging team placed eighth at the National Collegiate Poultry Judging Contest held in November at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The University of North Georgia's Ethics Bowl team will head to Portland, Oregon, in March for the 2023 national competition after a second-place finish in the Mid-Atlantic Regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl. It marks UNG's first Ethics Bowl national appearance since 2015.

The University of North Georgia (UNG) hosted the third Annual Research Pitch on Nov. 3. This was the first time the event was held on UNG's Gainesville Campus.

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) Spartan Ranger Challenge team collected a pair of first-place event finishes and took fifth overall out of 16 teams from senior and junior military colleges at the Spartan Ranger Challenge held Oct. 28-29 at Fort Knox, Kentucky.

The University of North Georgia (UNG) won three of its four debates in the U.S. Universities Arabic Debating Championship hosted Oct. 13-17 by QatarDebate at Stanford University in California.

University of North Georgia (UNG) cybersecurity students made strong showings in a pair of high-level events during the spring 2022 semester. They were fifth out of 25 teams in the national Hack the Port cyber-physical systems hacking competition. UNG also finished in second place in the Southeast Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition hosted by Kennesaw State University.

An 11-student team from the University of North Georgia (UNG) won its topic stream in the international Countering Disinformation Challenge hosted virtually Oct. 21 by the William & Mary Innovation Challenge and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) poultry judging team excelled in the USPOULTRY Foundation Ted Cameron National Poultry Judging Contest held April 1-3 at Louisiana State University. UNG's group of students tied for sixth place in market products, eighth in production and ninth in breeds. Jackson Barkley placed 10th individually in breed selection, 14th individually in market products, and was 19th overall in the contest.

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) debate team collected a series of accolades in the Pi Kappa Delta National Conference from March 10-12 at the University of Central Florida. Nathalia Ingles Cardona earned All-American status, Taylor Mullikin earned a superior rating in broadcast journalism, and the team won superior overall for small entry sweepstakes. This is the fourth time UNG has earned an All-American honor; the last time a Nighthawk brought home the award was 2015.

On March 5, University of North Georgia (UNG) student Susana Olivo Sandoval was named the first-place winner in category 3 at the annual Georgia Japanese Speech Contest held virtually. Her division was for students with N3-level proficiency of Japanese Language Proficiency Test, corresponding to 3000-level Japanese courses at UNG. Four other UNG students earned awards.

UNG student Katie Kiker took third place individually in the National Collegiate Sales Competition, and the UNG team tied for fourth overall.

UNG student Taylor Hitt is one of 25 competitors to make the U.S cyber team.

Five University of North Georgia (UNG) students and a recent alumnus are among the final 60 people competing for a spot on the first United States Cyber Team, which will take part in the International Cybersecurity Challenge (ICC) from Dec. 7-12, in Athens, Greece. Students Jake Elder, Houstoun Hall, Taylor Hitt, Benjamin Huckaba and Smit Patel and alumnus Kyung Michael Park will wrap up the eight-week U.S. Cyber Combine Sept. 3. The combine has provided a team atmosphere for growth, overseen by coaches who along with an advisory board will announce the 20-person U.S. Cyber Team in an Oct. 5 draft.

A pair of University of North Georgia (UNG) students placed second in their divisions of the fourth annual Southeastern U.S. Korean Speech and Quiz Contest. UNG co-hosted the event via Zoom with the Korean Education Center in Atlanta.

The University of North Georgia (UNG) finished sixth out of 11 schools participating in the National Security Agency Cyber Exercise (NCX) held virtually April 8-10. After entering as an expo team in 2019, this was the first year UNG participated as a competition team. UNG faced off against the nation's five other senior military colleges, three service academies and two National Security Agency (NSA) units.

A long wait did not change the trajectory of the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Ranger Challenge program. Eighteen months after sweeping the top two spots at Spartan Ranger Challenge and two years since UNG last competed at the Sandhurst Military Skills Competition, UNG earned a third straight ROTC title. The school finished fourth overall out of 44 teams at Sandhurst, which was held April 16-17 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

A team of almost 50 University of North Georgia (UNG) students finished fourth in scoring among the 59 colleges and universities that competed at the fall 2020 RNMKRS College Sales Skills Competition. The virtual event used artificial intelligence robots to help students practice their sales skills. Jessica Berliner, a senior from Gainesville, Georgia, pursuing a degree in management, finished No. 4 individually out of more than 2,100 competitors.

Even with changes to the National Security Agency (NSA) Codebreaker Challenge in 2020, including a vastly expanded scope of tasks from previous years, the University of North Georgia (UNG) emerged victorious for the second year in a row. UNG students, faculty and staff tallied 323,150 points, while second-place Georgia Tech finished with 74,010. Oregon State University, University of Cincinnati, and University of California, Santa Cruz rounded out the top five of the event that wrapped up Jan. 31. Eighty-nine UNG participants completed the first six tasks of the challenge, with no other school having more than seven players complete that many tasks. UNG also had 27 participants complete the seventh task, with the next-closest school having four competitors reach that point. UNG's team had 168 participants complete at least one task.

Six students teams at the University of North Georgia shared their innovations and received feedback as part of the 2021 innovateUNG Pitch Challenge. The March 16 event had teams in person at the Library Technology Center and judges and spectators participating through Zoom.

University of North Georgia (UNG) student Brianna Welch had a chance to tie together her Korean language skills with her family history to earn an award at a national event. Welch, a junior from Cumming, Georgia, pursuing a degree in East Asian studies with a Korean concentration, won a Korea Culture Award at the annual Korean Speech Contest hosted virtually by the South Korean Cultural Ministry in October.

The 2020 Mid-Atlantic Regional Intercollegiate Ethics Bowl Competition was conducted virtually from Nov. 6-7 via Zoom with the University of North Georgia (UNG) acting as the host school.

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) Model United Nations (UN) team that earned an Outstanding Position Paper award from the Southern Regional Model UN spring event. Set for Charlotte, North Carolina, the in-person event was canceled, but papers were still reviewed for awards.

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) Enactus team earned third place in the Unilever Bright Futures Project Accelerator competition at the national Enactus conference, which was held virtually. Enactus is an entrepreneurial and service club for college students.

Students addressed current social justice issues as part of the Martin Luther King Jr. Oratorical Contests which took place Jan. 22 on the University of North Georgia's (UNG) Gainesville Campus and Jan. 29 on UNG's Dahlonega Campus.

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) poultry judging team took fourth place in production hens at the 72nd annual National Collegiate Poultry judging competition at Louisiana State University in early April.

Two UNG students were off and running with their pitch of the Opus Affinity app at the innovateUNG Pitch Challenge on Feb. 20 in the Dining Hall Banquet Room on UNG's Dahlonega Campus. More than two hours later, Hearn and Herrera were declared winners of the inaugural event, securing a $2,000 prize and a trip to the Georgia InVenture Prize competition, which is sponsored by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the University System of Georgia for top college teams from across the state and will award a $25,000 first prize.

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) debate team, which competed in seven tournaments during the 2014-15 academic year, finished the year with national rankings and several team awards.

The University of North Georgia's (UNG) orientation leaders attended the Southern Regional Orientation Workshop (SROW) and six students were recognized with awards.