There's one more bowl game left this season.
The Black Knowledge Bowl, taking place Feb. 16, is a game show-style event designed to excite students about black history.
"Our hope is to get a lot of teams from a lot of demographic groups to come together and compete," said Shakeer Abdullah, director of multicultural affairs at the Multicultural Center. "It's going to be a way to hopefully get people engaged in the things that we're doing across campus.
"We're really excited to be able to highlight black history in this unique way."
This marks the first year the Black Knowledge Bowl has been held at Auburn.
"It's actually something that was in place a couple years ago," Abdullah said. "One of our graduate students was working with some of the local teen groups and we said, 'Why not bring it to the university level and see what we can do in terms of interest and engagement?'
"So far, so good. We've got about four teams that have agreed to compete and there are four more spots left open."
Abdullah and Abe Williams, Black Student Union vice president and sophomore in public relations, said this competition has the potential to reach more people than other events common during black history month, such as guest speakers.
"I think it will draw more people in," Williams said, "Speakers can offer a great perspective, but this game atmosphere can be an event you go to where it's OK to have fun while learning about black history. Speakers and competition will both be informative, but we feel like this will be a bit more energetic. We know people love competition."
Abdullah said the game will be a hybrid of debate teams and "Jeopardy." Teams will be paired up in 15-minute rounds, and the last two teams standing will compete for the title.
"It's going to be questions about history, culture, literature, maybe some current events," Abdullah said. "It's going to be pretty wide-ranging. It's not going to have specific categories, but you may have a line of questions that focuses on women in black history or poets or authors."
Williams said the winners will be able to host an event with the Black Student Union.
"It benefits a lot of the organizations that can't afford to hold an event on their own," he said. "It's a way of helping and supporting other organizations as well. Hopefully it will bring these organizations closer together and give them a chance to work together."
Eddie Walton, Black Student Union president and junior in health administration, said he hopes this event will unite students of all backgrounds.
"Even though it is black history, it's not just for African- Americans," Walton said. "We want the whole campus to come together to partake in this event."
Abdullah said the Black Knowledge Bowl is a step forward in recognizing the influence of black history in the nation's past.
"The main purpose is to highlight the range and diversity of black history and help folks understand that black history is American history," Abdullah said. "The more we understand that, the more impactful events like this become and people start to realize that black history is happening 365 days a year."
*Content has been changed from original publication.
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