Contact: Dr. Donna M. Simon (304) 766-3363 dsimon@wvstateu.edu

INSTITUTE, W.Va. – The West Virginia State University (WVSU) academic quiz bowl team will be leaving Saturday, April 6, to compete in the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge National Championship Tournament in Los Angeles.
Only 48 schools from around the country representing Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) earned the right to travel to California to participate in the 24 annual academic quiz bowl competition. The two-day event will test students’ knowledge of history, science, literature, religion, the arts, social science and popular culture.
The WVSU quiz bowl team returns to the competition where it finished among the top 16 teams in the nation last year earning $7,000 in educational grants for their performance.
“I am particularly proud of our team’s advancement to the Sweet Sixteen round of play last year and how well they competed,” said Belinda Fuller, WVSU director of alumni relations, and coach of the academic quiz bowl team. “It demonstrates that WVSU is capable of competing against the best colleges and universities in the nation.”
Students making up the quiz bowl team this year are:
• Scotty White (Captain), a sophomore communications major from Bay Minette, Ala.;
• Eric Jett, a senior mathematics major from Charleston;
• Ashton Gauff, a senior mathematics and international studies/French major from Zachary, La.;
• Raynalle Rouse, a sophomore theatre arts major from Washington, D.C.
Since the All-Star Challenge began in 1989, quiz bowl teams representing WVSU have brought home a total of $157,000 in educational grants from the competition.
“Our students truly enjoy the experience of trivia, competition and teamwork,” Fuller said. “The varsity team is honored to have this opportunity to represent WVSU for a chance to earn scholarship grants for our institution.”
The two-day Honda Campus All-Star Challenge National Championship Tournament will begin Sunday, April 7, with a round robin competition among teams. The top 16 teams emerging from the round robin portion will continue on in the competition.
More than 250 students from 18 states will be competing not only for bragging rights, but for the opportunity to win a share of more than $300,000 in institutional grants awarded by Honda, including the grand prize of $50,000 for the winning team.
The grand prize, along with the other institutional grants, will support academic activities at the participating HBCUs.
The All-Star Challenge is one of Honda’s largest and longest running philanthropic initiatives in the United States. Throughout its history, the program has awarded more than $7 million in grants.
For more information on the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge go to .