Glenn Muffih’s friendship with Cameron Sumlin, of Cullen, La., has helped both succeed at Southern Arkansas University’s College of Business
Cameron Sumlin and Glenn Muffih
Glenn Muffih of Babanki, Cameroon, chose to get a degree in business from Southern Arkansas University. Now in the SAU MBA program, he feels confident he will be able to use his education to make a difference in his home country.
“My goal is to work with the United Nations. I believe that way I can help a lot more people,” said Muffih. “I also hope to take care of the family business in Cameroon.”
Muffih’s father owns a credit union that has recently been authorized to become a bank. He also owns a transit company and is the Director of Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services.
Muffih said his father was the first in the family to get a formal education.
Glenn Muffih with his father
“My grandfather had two wives and 26 children. With each wife he had 13 kids. The guy was fair,” said Muffih. “My dad had to strive, had to struggle. He had to trek six miles a day just to get an education, sometimes without having breakfast.”
Muffih said his father went to college in Boston. He passed on to Muffih family values and the idea that hard work pays. He led by example, too, as he took the Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services organization from barely 100 workers when he started to now having around 3,000 workers in five hospitals, 24 integrated health centers, 50 primary health centers and a pharmaceutical distribution center in Cameroon.
When Muffih brought up the idea of also studying in the U.S., his father supported the decision but suggested he be mindful of climate. He said that SAU sounded good by what they found online, and the weather looked perfect.
Since he first arrived in 2010, he has not taken any part of his academics and his opportunity lightly.
“People are dying, striving to get this type of education,” said Muffih. “But some people here have it but they let it slip through their hands. It’s in front of them. It’s been chewed up and put in their mouth. And all they need to do is swallow, but they don’t even swallow.”
Muffih said that a big part of why he continued at SAU to work toward a Master’s of Business Administration degree was that he befriended a fellow College of Business student in one of his first classes at SAU. He met Cameron Sumlin, a first-generation college student from Cullen, La. The two realized they were equally driven to make the most of their education, so they became study partners and close friends.
Cameron Sumlin with his parents
“We’ve spent countless hours in the library studying. It was nothing for us to get out of class at three and stay until after midnight. Then wake up at 6 a.m. to get an A on the test,” said Sumlin.
Like Muffih, Sumlin got a strong work ethic from his father at an early age.
“In kindergarten I could run a cash register. My dad sat me down on a stool and taught me how to count money,” said Sumlin.
Sumlin said his grandfather was a wealthy business owner at one point, but he died broke because of a lack of wealth management. His father grew up poor in a large family with nine siblings. But he now owns several successful businesses, including a grocery store.
“Even though my father is successful, he has encouraged me to continue my education,” said Sumlin.
Even while getting his business education, Sumlin serves as the Vice President for Sumlin Investments and Sumlin Enterprise.
Cameron Sumlin and Glenn Muffih at graduation
Sumlin and Muffih graduated together with their undergraduate business degrees in May of 2013. Sumlin earned summa cum laude honors with a 4.0 GPA. They are now working toward their MBA degrees, and neither has accumulated any debt related to their schooling.
“At SAU’s College of Business, we have a culture of building relationships. Faculty members truly care about students and engage them both in and outside of the classroom. As well, our small class sizes allows our students to interact and build life-long friendships. This welcoming environment creates opportunities for bright, hard-working students like Glenn and Cameron to thrive and succeed,” said Dean of the SAU College of Business Lisa Toms.
Muffih was honored with the Leadership Award in 2012 from the SAU International Student Association because of his involvement helping the Magnolia community and SAU international students. He has also worked on several projects with Enactus, a student organization in the College of Business.
Sumlin came to SAU on an academic and band scholarship. He played the tuba in the SAU Marching Band for three years, before giving it up to focus solely on his academics. He has served as a President’s Ambassador, and Upward Bound Peer Counselor, on the Pre-Law Club. He said he took what he learned from a SAU-sponsored political rally to host a similar gathering in his hometown.
SAU’s Master’s of Business program was recently ranked third among the nation’s most affordable online business degrees by OnlineU.org, and is the only one in the top three that is AACSB Accredited. By being accredited through AACSB, SAU’s College of Business is among the world’s top five percent of business schools.
To find out more about the SAU College of Business, visit www.SAUmag.edu/Business.
