Annual Black Knowledge Bowl draws 8 undergraduate teams

If the names Flo-Jo and Alexandre Dumas don’t ring a bell, attending the Black Knowledge Bowl might have proved beneficial for those looking to bolster their black-history smarts.\nThe Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center drew more than 100 people to the annual trivia show Thursday.\nTen teams made up of students from historically black sororities and fraternities as well as nongreeks put their knowledge of black history and pop culture to the test during the friendly but heated competition.\nA moderator pulled questions from such subjects as politics, cuisine, activism and IU history.\nStudents were given a list of potential questions to study beforehand, said Oyibo Afoaku, director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center.\n“The teams worked hard to prepare for tonight and did an excellent job,” she said. “There was a great turnout, and I think it’s wonderful that we all learned a lot from this.”\nDuring the undergraduate elimination rounds, teams silently wrote down answers before time elapsed. At the end of each round, a panel of judges assessed the score and dropped groups who were behind, until only the Black Student Union team and the Delta Sigma Theta team remained.\nAfter a close back-and-forth battle in the undergraduate championship round, Delta Sigma Theta emerged victorious.\n“It got a little intense, but we took it and I’m very happy about that,” said junior Jazmine Long. “This whole event is just great for black knowledge, and we definitely studied a lot to prepare for it.”\nIn between the questioning rounds, attendees and participants were treated to dinner catered by BuffaLouie’s.\nEven those who didn’t leave winners got something out of the event.\n“We got together just to show that being greek isn’t just about being greek,” said junior Ernest Moore of the Kappa Alpha Psi team. “If it wasn’t for education we wouldn’t be here, so it’s good to participate in events like this. It was just fun to compete with our peers.”