Students’ Knowledge on Black History Tested in Inaugural Scholar Bowl

By WVUA23 Digital News Reporter Jennaya Lazenby

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.- College students from across Alabama will gather at the University of Alabama’s Bryant Conference Center Feb. 27 for the first-ever Dr. Trudier Harris Intercollegiate Black History Scholar Bowl.

The event is being hosted by UA’s Black Faculty and Staff Association in partnership with UA’s Division of Student Life.

The competition is named in honor of UA literary scholar and professor Trudier Harris and offers a way to increase awareness of Black contributions in American culture and to strengthen relations between Alabama’s colleges and universities, BFSA President Chad Jackson said.

“One of the reasons why it is important that this becomes an annual event is that African Americans are always contributing to American culture,” Jackson said. “We still have the line of ‘the first Black this’ or ‘the first Black that.’ As long as that is a surviving prefix, there will always be a need to make sure we keep those successes ever before us.”

Five-member teams consisting of students from UA, Stillman College, Alabama State University and Alabama A&M will compete for a monetary grand prize and a traveling trophy.

Teams will compete in person, but because of COVID-19 restrictions, the audience will attend virtually through a live stream on the UABFSA Facebook page.