Quiz Bowl Club new to campus this year

The Quiz Bowl Club is now offering a fun and competitive way for students to show off just how much they know. The group meets Fridays at 6 p.m. in the second-floor lounge of Jepson Hall.

The club was started by freshman Zach Perry and sophomore transfer student, Clara Kerckhove. Perry said that Quiz Bowl was similar to the scene in "Mean Girls," when the characters are challenged with difficult questions. During the competition, the trivia questions begin vaguely, and become more specific over time, Perry said.

Schools such as Virginia Commonwealth University, George Mason University and other in-state schools have similar clubs or organizations, Perry said. The Quiz Bowl Club at University of Richmond feels that it needs to practice more and grow in size before it competes against these organizations, Perry said.

The club's meetings last about an hour and a half, in which the group runs through practice questions and plans events, Perry said. One idea for a future event is trivia night at The Cellar.

"One of our plans is to hold some kind of practice or competition in The Cellar," Perry said. There were no concrete plans at the time of the interview, but Perry said that it was an idea they definitely wanted to work with.

Since it is both Perry and Kerckhove's first years at Richmond, Perry said that they have had a more difficult time recruiting members than other clubs because they are still getting to know people. He also said that it had been difficult to find a club sponsor. However, Perry has the privilege of being able to watch the club grow over the next three years, he said.

In contrast with Perry's situation, Guy Neilson is a 22-year-old law school exchange student from Australia. Although he is only studying in Richmond for the semester, he is excited to be taking part in the club, he said. Neilson said that he joined the team because he had known Perry and Kerckhove before joining the club, and that he had joined upon their request.

Each student has a story of how they came to join the Quiz Bowl Club. Both Perry and Kerckhove had participated in similar teams during high school, and Neilson said he had participated in trivia nights at pubs before. Perry had also participated in trivia nights at Buffalo Wild Wings, which was part of the reason the club wants to have an event at The Cellar, he said.

Perry said that the best part of the Quiz Bowl Club was the chance to show off what he has learned. "We don't get that many opportunities to be smart for fun," he said.

Contact reporter Brennen Lutz at brennen.lutz@richmond.edu