EDUCATION
NCCU QUIZ TEAM FINISHES THIRD AT THE 2014
HONDA CAMPUS ALL-STAR CHALLENGE
SHAW MASS COMMUNICATIONS STUDENTS SWEEP
ENVIRONMENTAL PSA COMPETITION
DURHAM, NC - The North Carolina Central University quiz bowl team advanced to the national
semifinals at the 2014 Honda Campus All-Star Challenge National Championship Tournament,
earning a $16,000 grant for the school and finishing third among 48 schools. After seven
grueling months of preparation, the team traveled to Torrance, California, on April 12, 2014, to
compete in seven round-robin and playoff games, securing a place in the Final Four. NCCU lost in
the semifinals to eventual champion Fisk University (TN). This year marks the sixth time that the
NCCU quiz bowl team has played in the Final Four of this tournament (1993, 1997, 2006, 2009,
2010, 2014).
The quiz team earned a $15, 000 grant for advancing to the semi-finals. In addition, Victoria M.
Jones, a senior chemistry major from Raleigh, was named a tournament all-star with the secondhighest scoring average at 60 points per game. This achievement earned the team an additional
$1,000 grant. In its 24 years of national competition, NCCU has won $203,500 from the Honda
tournament.
The other members of the varsity team are Xian R. Brooks, the team captain and a senior health
education major from Louisville, KY; Zuri M. Gurganious, a junior history major from Castle
Hayne, NC; and Jelaina R. Shipman, a sophomore psychology-criminal justice major from White
Oak, NC. The competition club is advised by Dr. Caesar R. Jackson, interim dean of the School
of Graduate Studies and interim director of the Ph.D. Program in Integrated Biosciences, and it
is coached by Mr. Christopher A. Graves, NCCU alumnus and former player. The team and coach
were accompanied to the Los Angeles area competition by assistant coaches Mr. Clayton Mack
and Dr. Janice Dargan, both of NCCU. Additionally, a number of California-based NCCU alumni
attended the competition games to support the team. ()I1%