Hawk TV held its second annual trivia tournament on Friday, March 31, with proceeds benefiting the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a charity chosen by the winner. Though I wasn’t a participant, I had the opportunity to tune in via live stream of the event.
Hosted by Adam Black, Instructor of History, the contest featured nine participants and one fill-in. Among the competitors was Sofia D’Alessandro, a History and Elementary Education major (shoutout Sofia!).
Each contestant chose a charity that represented an important cause in their lives. There was a diverse range of charities including the Tunnel to Towers Foundation and the American Diabetes Association.
There were also a few on-campus organizations that were chosen. Both RallyCap Sports and Active Minds, chosen by Isabella Sorrentino and Ben De Vito, respectively, are present at the University.
Besides a large donation to the charity of their choice, the winner was also given a trophy for their efforts. Black jokingly put on gloves in order to keep the trophy as pristine as possible.
The contest started at 6 p.m. with participants Nick Bashore, Sofia D’Alessandro, and Tim Jusinki starting the first round. I was expecting to see traditional Jeopardy categories, but I was mistaken. There were many different kinds, including Broadway’s Hamilton and Alliterative Border Buddies.
There were also traditional Jeopardy categories like The NBA and the Spelling Bee. More difficult categories like Half and Half Mythological Creatures and Famous Trials were also featured.
My favorite category was Hamilton because I used to listen to the soundtrack on repeat when I was in high school. D’Alessandro also had Hamilton and Alliterative Border Buddies as her favorites because they were the most unique categories.
D’Alessandro said she “had a lot of fun competing against other classmates, and it’s a great way to raise money for charities to help them continue their work.” The preparation for the tournament was long, including many hours on Trivia Crack, but definitely worth it in the end.
Kudos to all the participants, as most of the answers were not purely academic-based. With the amount of categories, most contestants had to rely on their previous knowledge to figure out the answer.
HawkTV member Chloe Gosk was a producer for this event. As a freshman, she said that she “felt honored” that she was able to take on this position, and she helped “organize and plan the pre-recorded content that would play in between the legs of trivia.”
Gosk also commented on the scoreboard: “We were not expecting to do any math, so we had some little hiccups during the show but we made it work.” Her role could be considered miniscule in comparison to the participants, but the collective effort of both the host, participants, and producers helped the event come to life.
With the help of donations, the tourney raised a total of $2,435, which is more than last year’s donations that added up to be $1,750. The organizers surpassed their goal by about $800. Though the GoFundMe page has closed, you can still donate to any of their charities or the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The winner, Jacob Rossino, a senior communication student, will donate the proceeds to Safe Project, which strives to end the opioid epidemic. Tim Jusinski received second place, and Amera Hemming received third place.
Congratulations to Jacob and all the other contestants for a successful trivia tournament. If you were not able to tune in to the live stream, there is a recording on the Hawk TV Youtube channel for your viewing.
