Learn business by doing business.
DECA is a career and technical student organization for students interested in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. You choose a competitive event, you learn the industry behind it, and you present your solution to judges who work in that field. You do not need experience or a business class to start.
2nd Place: Largest % Increase in Membership
Kentucky DECA recognized our chapter for membership growth in 2025-26. Only one chapter in the commonwealth grew faster.
What a year in DECA looks like
DECA is co-curricular, which means the chapter work runs alongside what you study rather than after it. Four things fill the year.
Choose a competitive event
A competitive event is the category you compete in all year. DECA offers 60+ of them, from sports and entertainment marketing to financial consulting to launching a start-up, and we will help you find the one that fits your interests.
Solve a real business problem
In a role-play event you receive a business scenario and time to prepare, then you present your solution to a judge who works in that industry and questions you the way a colleague would. You will get better at it every time you compete.
Compete at three levels
You compete at the regional conference first, then at the State Career Development Conference in Louisville. Finish high enough at state and you join the Kentucky delegation to the International Career Development Conference, which is in Anaheim, California on April 17-20, 2027.
Build a record you can use
State and international placement, officer roles, and DECA scholarships all carry weight on a college application and in an interview. We will help you learn to talk about the work you did.
You do not need a business class
Any Lafayette student can join our chapter. Most of our members take a business or marketing course, but it is not a requirement, and plenty of people join before they have taken one.
These are the skills employers screen for, and DECA is where you practice them:
- Presenting to an adult you have never met, without a script
- Interviewing, dressing professionally, and introducing yourself well
- Reading a budget, setting a price, and managing your own money
- Taking a project from an idea to a deadline
- Working a room full of people you have not met yet
We pick a cause together
Community service is built into what DECA is. Every year our chapter comes together and decides on a mission or a community service organization to support, and then we spend the year on it.
Members bring the ideas and members make the case for them. It is one of the first real decisions you get a vote in, and it shapes what our chapter is known for that year.
From room 127 to the international stage
Chapter meetings
We meet every other Monday at 3:30 p.m. in Mr. Hoertz's room (127). We prepare for competition, run chapter projects, and bring in people who do this work for a living.
Region conference
Kentucky DECA divides the commonwealth into regions, and this is where your competition year starts. You compete here first, and advancement to the state conference depends on where you finish and on the quota published for your event.
State conference
The State Career Development Conference, or SCDC, is held in Louisville. It decides Kentucky placement and determines who advances to the international conference.
ICDC
The International Career Development Conference, or ICDC, brings together more than 25,000 students, advisors, and business professionals, with over 10,000 of them competing. Atlanta hosted it in 2026, and Anaheim hosts it on April 17-20, 2027.
Coming up
Meetings, deadlines, and conference dates, taken straight from our chapter calendar. We post everything as it happens on Instagram at @lafayette.deca.
- Aug24Chapter Interest Meeting + Pizza PartyMeeting
Students run this chapter
Our five vice presidents each own one area of the chapter, and each builds a team of members around it. Applications open every spring, and we would rather you applied early than waited until you felt ready.
Isabelle Dinh
Eric Nunez
Vladimir Bagdasarian
Jiya Sheth
Mady Dinh
Charlie Reed
Dues are $30 for the 2026-27 school year.
That covers your national, state, and chapter membership, and it makes you eligible to compete. We meet every other Monday at 3:30 p.m. in Mr. Hoertz's room (127), so sit in on a meeting first if you would rather see us before you decide.