'Jeopardy!' Buzzes in Loker

More than 1,000 students crowded into Loker Commons yesterday afternoon to test whether their Harvard education had prepared them for the ultimate intellectual trivia challenge: the “Jeopardy! College Championship.”

Many in the mass of eager would-be contestants staked out a spot in Loker a few hours before the 10-question trivia quiz, which would determine who had the knowledge to move on to the national competition.

A few hours later, some dreams were dashed as the sea was whittled down to 150 candidates who went on for a second round of questioning.

Out of 30 candidates who participated in a mock version of “Jeopardy!” last night, only one lucky student—whose name will be announced this morning—will go on to compete with 14 other contestants in the national competition at Yale on Oct. 3.

Contestant Coordinator Maggie Speak said she would not select students for their abilities to memorize an almanac, but for a certain star quality.

“People often forget that “Jeopardy!” is a game,” she said. “It’s not just knowing the info, but having fun, too.”

But Speak said she deliberately chose to recruit a Harvard contestant—in addition to a Yalie and 13 other college students—to make sure the show isn’t all fun and games.

Looking out over a sea of students in Loker, Speak said the show would play up the Harvard-Yale rivalry while giving the Yalies home court advantage.

Undergraduate Council President Rohit Chopra ’04 spearheaded the plan to bring a quiz show to Harvard and started sending letters to various television shows in July

He said the show was Harvard’s opportunity to beat that infamous—and inferior—New Haven institution on a national stage.

“We will show everyone that we can take on Yale on ‘Jeopardy!’ and then beat them again on the football field,” he said.

Loker teemed with contestants and rubberneckers yesterday afternoon, as Harvard students fought for the coveted buzzer spot that many had fantasized about since childhood.

“I guarantee a Harvard victory,” said Aaron S. Byrd ’05, who eagerly crossed back and forth from the Loker doors to the testing room entrance, too wired to wait in line. “I watch ‘Jeopardy!’ every day. I have seen at least 500 episodes.”

C.J. Santullo ’06 said he dreams of beating out his classmates—and one-upping the host himself.

“When I was little, my parents asked me what I wanted to be, and I said, ‘Alex Trebek.’ The closer I get to him, the better chance I have of stealing his job,” he said.

After years of watching “Jeopardy!” with his family, Michael B. Firestone ’05 waited in a pack of friends who had also come out to try their hand at trivia.

“How many times a week does my family watch ‘Jeopardy!’? Don’t make me answer that question,” Firestone said an hour and a half before the pretest.

Speak said more than 25,000 candidates are tested for the “Jeopardy!” television show each year, with around 400 of those interviewed appearing as contestants.

“Jeopardy! College Championship” episodes are the highest rated, she said.

And the nerdiest of the college nerds will be rewarded for his or her knack for facts—the winner of “Jeopardy! College Championship” will drive away in a brand-new Volvo with at least $50,000.

Mai Mai Lin ’04, 18th in line for the pretest, said she had not watched “Jeopardy!” in five years, but the opportunity to pay for a year of tuition with a few slams of the buzzer was too tempting.

“I’m not going to be disappointed if I don’t get in,” she said. “And if I do, I’ll be scared as hell.”

In addition to the pretest and the mock competition, the Jeopardy! Clue Crew—a band of crew members who travel around in a quest for obscure facts—created a circus-like atmosphere, handing out key chains, t-shirts, a special “Simpsons” edition of the Jeopardy! board game and tickets to the New Haven show.

Students who were not likely to work their way up to the final round got a chance to demonstrate their trivia prowess in mock versions of the game staged in the lounge.

Competing against Chopra and one other contestant, Andy D. Litinsky ’04 got 200 points for correctly naming the movie Unforgiven as Clint Eastwood’s most recent Oscar win.

Prizes also went to those who did not possess random knowledge, but simply random objects—like a moist towelette or a barbie doll.

Some students freely admitted that they did not have what it takes to be the trivia champion of undergraduates.

In response to a Clue Crew challenge to improvise lyrics to the Jeopardy! theme song, Tatyana C, Bartch ’06 sang, “My name is Tasha, and I didn’t pass the test. I feel really dumb ’cause I go to Harvard,” leaving the audience in laughter.