Students from University of Houston-Downtown will participate in the 2010 “Know Your Heritage: Hispanic College Quiz,” a television game show supported by the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) and produced by Central City Productions in Chicago.
“It’s a great opportunity,” said UHD Vice President of Student Services Ed Apodaca. “UHD students are always up for a competition and I know they will represent us well.” UHD student team members will be selected in the next week or so.
Contestants will answer questions tied to the material in “Hispanic Firsts: 500 Years of Extraordinary Achievement,” by Nicolas Kanellos. The 372-page reference book chronicles individual and group accomplishments, notable events and places in Hispanic art and design, business and commerce, education, film, government, labor, literature, media, the military, the performing arts, religion, science and technology, sports and theater.
Taping begins April 10 in Chicago. Teams from eight institutions will compete for a chance to win scholarship funds for their institution. Each team will have four members. A $10,000 scholarship fund goes to the winning school. The second place winner receives $5,000 in scholarship funds.
UHD’s coach, Michelle Falcon, assistant director of Student Activities & Events, won’t reveal UHD’s strategy yet. “We are fortunate to get support from faculty, staff and administration who have experience with academic competitions,” she said. “Our students are hard working and focused. I have no doubt they will make us proud.”
NBC news anchor Zoraida Sambolin (so-REYE’-thah sahm-boh-LEEN’) will host the show, which will air during Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 11-Nov. 1.
Schools were randomly selected from 32 HACU member institutions that entered the contest, according to Norma Jean Revilla-García, HACU executive director of communications and marketing, who awarded the winning trophies in 2009. She says the contest is more than a competition. “I saw the students on different teams bond right away even though they were competing,” she said. “It’s good national exposure for the schools and the teams.”
Other participating institutions are:Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (Tifton, Ga.), Arizona Western College, California State University-Los Angeles, Colorado State University, Eugenio Maria de Hostos Community College-CUNY, Los Angeles Southwest College and Trinity University (San Antonio).
Alternate Institutions are: Austin Community College and Columbia Basin College (Pasco, Wash.).
