GREENEVILLE – Knowledge flowed freely at Tusculum University Saturday, Nov. 23, as about 80 high school and middle school students exhibited their command of various subjects during another fun and competitive quiz bowl at Tennessee’s first higher education institution.
This is one of the teams in action at the Tusculum Tournament for Helene Relief.
Dr. Chuck Pearson addresses the teams at the start of the tournament.
Participating students also learned how they could build on their pre-college experience at this tournament as a member of Tusculum’s growing quiz bowl team. Dr. David Cook, provost and vice president of academic affairs, shared with the students and their families about the potential for an additional scholarship at the university should they become part of the team.
In addition, the Tusculum Tournament for Helene Relief demonstrated the university’s commitment to the well-being of the community. Proceeds from the tournament and the broader quiz bowl community will be donated to AIDNET of Greene County, a nonprofit, to assist those who were affected by the devastating flooding as a result of the hurricane. The total will be more than $1,500.
“We were thrilled to welcome these students to campus to showcase their skill and knowledge and tell them about the exciting opportunity available to take their passion for quiz bowl to another level at Tusculum,” said Dr. Chuck Pearson, the university’s assistant dean of science and mathematics and the tournament’s director. “These are bright young individuals, and we would love to help them grow further as quiz bowl competitors in our program.”
New quiz bowl initiative at Tusculum
This fall, Tusculum launched an initiative to expand the number of students participating in quiz bowl at the university. Dr. Cook talked about the plan with the students during a break at Saturday’s tournament.
Tusculum has established a goal to have 12 members of the Tusculum quiz bowl team by the start of the 2025-26 academic year. The university envisions the creation of three teams of four players within its squad, and they will compete at six tournaments a year in the Southeast. Dr. Pearson said his hope is that Tusculum Quiz Bowl will qualify for one or more national tournaments — National Academic Quiz Tournaments, Academic Competition Federation and International Quiz Bowl.
The university is investing in this initiative with scholarships for team members that will average about $2,000 per student. These scholarships supplement what students receive in financial aid from other sources.
Dr. Pearson serves as the coach for the Tusculum team, which has been active this year with a smaller group of students. Helping him recruit additional team members is Jenna Agostino, head coach of Tusculum’s women’s lacrosse team.
Tusculum student involved in quiz bowl
This team listens to one of the questions.
Malachi Ledford, reads a question during one of the contests.
Malachi Ledford, a Tusculum freshman pursuing bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and biology, is one of the members of Tusculum’s team. During Saturday’s tournament, he was one of the readers of questions in multiple contests held throughout the day.
Ledford played in quiz bowl tournaments throughout his four years at Central High School in Wise, Virginia, and participated in Tusculum’s tournament for two years. During his high school contests, he met Dr. Pearson, who recruited him to Tusculum. He appreciated how helpful everyone was when he visited the university, and he liked the idea of being at the forefront of establishing the Tusculum team.
“I came here mainly for the quiz bowl team,” Ledford said. “The idea that I would be able to get a program started and hopefully get Tusculum put on the map with quiz bowl was really appealing to me. Quiz bowl is something that I love so much. I was pretty much one of the main people in my high school years, and I just loved it. Being able to start up a program here and help others learn and grow in their epistemological journeys is really cool.”
To learn more about the quiz bowl team, please visit https://site.tusculum.edu/quiz-bowl-at-tusculum-university/.
This is one of the contests in the Meen Center lecture hall.
One of the teams enjoy a light moment during one of the games.
Tusculum also is focused on increasing the number of students who participate in esports and debate and is preparing to recruit mock trial students. The same scholarship opportunities will be available in these programs.
The athletic department is assisting with recruitment for all academic teams because of the relationships many of its coaches have with high schools. Tusculum views this approach as a win-win because it combines the resources and contacts of the athletic coaches with the expertise of the academic coaches.
Dr. Scott Hummel, Tusculum’s president, and Jaileen Castro, an enrollment representative, spoke further about all the university has to offer at the university, including the academic programs, the mentoring of students by professors and the support of students whose parents or guardians do not have a bachelor’s degree. Tusculum offers 60 academic programs, including majors, minors and certificates, in both liberal arts and pre-professional programs.
Tusculum has hosted a quiz bowl tournament for middle school and high school students for several years. Normally, it is held earlier in the fall, but this year’s tournament was rescheduled because the flooding began the day before the event was scheduled to take place.
This year’s Tusculum tournament
The Tusculum Tournament for Helene Relief attracted seven teams in the upper division from Tennessee, Alabama and Virginia and 10 schools in the novice division from Tennessee and Virginia. The upper division consists of more experienced teams that are eligible for the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence National Scholastic Championship, while the novice teams are in earlier stages of their quiz bowl pursuits.
Schools that participated in Tusculum’s tournament came from multiple locales, including Jefferson County, Knoxville and Oak Ridge in Tennessee as well as Gate City, Virginia. Some additional out-of-state schools were unable to attend because of the challenges that still remain with travel in the hurricane’s aftermath.
The tournament featured 20 cycles of questions in every match. Questions touched on subjects such as literature, history, science, religion, mythology and fine arts. Some questions covered relatively current events. Students had to be quick on their feet because the questions came at a fast pace.
Emma Hudson, an eighth grader from Gate City Middle School, is a beginner with quiz bowls, with the Tusculum tournament being only her third. She likes the learning aspect of quiz bowls and studying for it and will continue playing in them. She enjoys the camaraderie within the team even though she has just met some of them.
Kate Hodges, a junior at Gate City High School, is in her second year of playing quiz bowl. She relishes being part of a community of like-minded individuals who are also “literature nerds” or “history buffs.” Literature and pop culture are the two subjects that interest her the most.
Chattanooga Schools for the Arts and Science Team A finished second in the upper division.
This team from West Point High School won the upper division.
This team from Oak Ridge High School won the novice division.
“I think quiz bowl has definitely helped improve my confidence,” Hodges said. “The questions help with my schoolwork, too, and vice versa. It has also enabled me to make new friendships.”
Sean Harbison, a junior from West Point High School in Cullman, Alabama, has played in quiz bowls for five years, seriously for four years.
“I like the competitiveness of knowledge,” he said. “I like learning things, and I like being smart and knowing about stuff. I feel like this is a fun way to get through an experience and have fun by doing that.”
The winner of the novice division was Oak Ridge High School. The winner of the upper division was West Point High School, and second place went to Chattanooga Schools for the Arts and Science Team A. The top two schools in the upper division have qualified for the PACE National Scholastic Championship based on Saturday’s results.
Anyone who would like to assist with the Tusculum tournament or learn more about it can email Dr. Pearson at cpearson@tusculum.edu. To apply to the university, please visit https://site.tusculum.edu/apply-visit/apply/. More information about the university is available at www.tusculum.edu.