Courtesy of Fort Valley State University
Fort Valley State University (FVSU) will compete in the National Qualifying Tournament of the 35th Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC), America’s premier academic competition for Historically Black Colleges and University (HBCU) students, on Saturday, February 10 at Morgan State University. Four-student teams will face off in head-to-head competition and must quickly answer questions about history, science, literature, religion, math, the arts, pop culture, and sports.
Freshmen students Kiara Freeman and Sydney Jackson (captain), along with sophomore students Raven McRae and Kristina Warren make up the four-member team. FVSU is one of 64 teams competing for institutional grants from Honda and a spot in the HCASC National Championship Tournament taking place on the American Honda corporate campus in Torrance, Calif., April 6-10, 2024.
FVSU Compliance Coordinator Michelle Clarington serves as the coach and Chief of Staff Emma Bennett Williams serves as the campus coordinator.
Bennett-Williams stated that she participated in the HCASC at South Carolina State University as a member of the first all-freshmen campus championship team.
“Participating on the team was a confidence builder and helped me establish lifelong friendships with my team members. I hope this experience will impact the current FVSU HCASC team as it did mine,” said Bennett-Williams. “We are hoping to have a successful showing at the NQT this weekend at Morgan State so we can go on to the finals in Los Angeles in April 2024.”
HCASC is a year-round program celebrating Black excellence and showcasing the academic talents of top HBCU students from across the country. HCASC challenges students to expand their scope of knowledge on a wide range of topics while also helping to develop their leadership and collaboration skills. With the opportunity to compete against students from other HBCUs, participants network, build camaraderie and gain mentorship opportunities with HCASC alumni. This year, Honda will provide more than $500,000 in institutional grants to the participating HBCUs with many of the schools utilizing the grants to fund student scholarships. More than 170,000 scholars have competed in HCASC since the academic tournament was established in 1989.
