30th annual Black Knowledge Bowl tests student teams

The Hoosier Lawyer team out-smarted nine student organizations Wednesday night in the Black Knowledge Bowl despite some early confusion about the rules of the game.\nThe annual event started at 7 p.m. in the Grand Hall of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center with Interim Director of the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center Audrey McCluskey introducing all the student organizations that participated in the event. \nAlpha League, the Black Student Union, Black 365, Delta Sigma Theta, Hoosier Lawyer, Kelley Emerging Leaders, Omega Psi Phi, Threat to Injustice, Voices of Hope and Zeta Phi Beta all participated in the bowl. \nJunior Krystal Lowe said she was most excited to see how much knowledge each organization had about black history.\n“(The Black Knowledge Bowl) encourages the students to learn more about their culture in a relaxed setting,” Lowe said. \nThe bowl started out with Alpha League, Delta Sigma Theta and Kelley Emerging Leaders competing against each other. The first round raised questions over details of the rules, but by the second round, new rules were put into place to make the bowl run more smoothly. \nThe questions in all of the rounds were similar. The questions covered a variety of topics, from science to politics to religion. All of the questions had the common theme of black history. \nRound one winners included the Alpha League, Voices of Hope, Hoosier Lawyer and Threat to Justice.\nIn between rounds, intermission leader Monique Hill asked the audience questions about historical black figures. People who answered the question correctly received a free shirt.\nThe second round placed Alpha League against Voices of Hope and Hoosier Lawyer against Threat to Injustice. \nUltimately, Hoosier Lawyer proved to be victorious against Threat to Injustice and Voices of Hope.\nLaw student and Hoosier Lawyer member Christal Coakley said the organization got involved with the bowl because members like to interact with the community.\n“I think (the Black Knowledge Bowl) is a good opportunity for people to learn something new,” said Hoosier Lawyer member Phyllisia Gant. \nIU provost Karen Hanson handed all the winners their trophies. The Hoosier Lawyer team received $500 and a trophy for winning the entire competition. Second place winners, Voices of Hope, received $300 and a trophy. Third place winners, Threat to Injustice, received $200 and a trophy. \nMcCluskey encouraged all of the attendees to think of the event as more than just a game. \n“One day you might be an answer,” McCluskey said, “for a Black Knowledge Bowl question.”