Sigma Tau Delta trivia night
Photo courtesy of Knight's Life Editor Regan Russell
The top scoring three teams were displayed at the end of the round, but only one team earned a gift bag and bragging rights.
On Thursday, Nov. 21, Sigma Tau Delta hosted its annual English trivia night. The event was held in one of the newly opened multipurpose rooms in the Milne Library and was open to all students, not just members. Students of all majors were invited to attend, regardless of their knowledge of English literature.
A unique aspect of this trivia night is the inclusion of Geneseo English department staff members. An assortment of English professors attended the event in their free time and joined a team of students. Professor Cooper was on my team, appropriately named “Milne Fan Club,” to show appreciation for the building.
Staff members such as Professor Fallon, Professor Woidat, and Professor Rutkowski were also present for the event. Upon arrival, teams were created, and professors randomly chose a team to join.
The event started at 4:30 pm, but many students showed up early. Students could enjoy free food and refreshments while they waited for the event to begin. Lemonade, iced tea, and an assortment of snacks were available for students before and during the event.
The trivia portion of the event took place on the popular website known as Kahoot!. This online platform allows for the creation of customizable and easy-to-access quizzes as well as other review-style games. One person from each team joined the Kahoot! game to avoid any confusion about points and scores. The Kahoot! consisted of 50 English-based questions, with a few pop culture trivia questions thrown in.
For those unfamiliar with how Kahoot! operates, a question is displayed on the host screen, and there are four possible answers that participants can choose from. The four answers are color-coded, and the participant chooses the color they believe to be the correct answer on their personal screen. Due to this, making sure people are quick to answer (as Kahoot! tracks for answer speed and correctness) and being responsive to group opinions was important when deciding who would have control over the Kahoot! and its responses.
Topics ranged from poetry, best-selling authors, Shakespeare, famous novels, and random pop culture questions. Many professors joked at their inability to understand the pop culture ones, with questions such as “What popular Roblox game involves dressing up an avatar to fit a given theme?” Students whispered, screaming, “Dress to Impress,” to their group mates, making for a quick laugh among the room.
Many questions stumped everyone in the room, a memorable one being, “What was Shakespeare’s first play?” Shock fell in the room as Professor Fallon’s team did not even get this question correct, as Fallon is famously the professor to ask about anything and everything related to Shakespearean topics.
After an intense 50 questions, one team was crowned the winner. Despite our best efforts, my team placed third in the competition. The students on the winning team received goodie bags full of free treats as their award for extensive knowledge of the English field.
Be sure to look out for the trivia event again next year and any other events and meetings held by Sigma Tau Delta in the future!