For the 28th year in a row, Alabama State University students have earned a spot in the national finals of the Honda Campus All-Stars Challenge (HCASC). HCASC is a quizbowl academic competition for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Participation in the finals represents a major achievement.
“Over the decades, Alabama State’s team has competed in Honda’s national finals every year since 1995, and I truly believe this year’s student competitors are the most intellectually agile and proficient in the many years that I have been involved with our student-scholars competing at this venue,” Ivon Alcime, Ph.D. said, team advisor and an associate professor of communications in the university’s department of communications.
The Hornet Nation’s four-member team will compete in Torrance, California, from April 14-16. Team members include Jonathan Holland, a secondary education senior from Frisco, Texas; Vanella Tadjuidje, a biology/pre-health junior from Pike Road, Alabama; Savannah Mendenhall, a senior accounting major from Blue Mound, Illinois; and Samantha Rodman, a sophomore history major from Montgomery, Alabama.
“All HBCUs in the nation have already gone through rounds of competition and now we are off to the final event — the nationals — and by doing so this year,” Alcime said, “and for every year since 1995, it showcases and demonstrates the strength of the scholarship at The Alabama State University and reflects highly upon the sterling character of our competing student’s intellectualism, as well as on our institution’s faculty and their high caliber of instruction.”