On Monday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m., in Gavle Room 3 the Augustana Mortar Board hosted the first ever ‘Are You Smarter Than An Augie Student?’. President of the Mortar Board, senior Selena Romano said, “This was the first time Mortar Board has done an event like this and my hope is that Mortar Board continues with this event and starts many others.”
Senior Katelyn Lorenz said that, “Mortar Board is a national honor society for college seniors.” There are 231 chapters nationwide and the mission of the Mortar Board is to: “Recognize college seniors for their achievements in scholarship, leadership, and service as well as providing opportunities for continued leadership, promoting service to colleges and universities and encouraging lifelong contributions to the global community,” said Romano.
The idea of holding the ‘Are You Smarter Than An Augie Student?’ event came about when members of the Augustana chapter of the Mortar Board realized that this chapter was not as prominent on campus as other chapters nationwide. Those who are members of the Board came together and decided on a Trivia Night, came up with a name and then added some Augie flare to it.
The way that this event worked is that in Gavle 3, ten tables were set up in a circle with one table in the middle that had a bell on it. Each of the teams had about 4-5 students and one professor competing. At the front were the questions from five categories: Augie Life, Math, History, Science, and English. Romano would spin a wheel at the front to decide the category and then proceed to read a question from that chosen field. The questions were multiple choice and when a team thought they had the answer one person would run to the table to hit the bell and try to answer correctly. If they were correct, their team would receive two points, and if they were wrong, the team would lose one point. “Even though I didn’t compete in the event, it was hilarious to watch…The event was very high energy; people were smiling and laughing all night,” said Lorenz.
A trivia night was not the only thing that the Mortar Board set out to do on the night of the 22nd. While hosting the trivia night was the main part, there was also a book drive being held and raffles being sold. By the end of the night the Board had received 162 children’s books and raised $422, all to be donated to Longfellow Elementary School in Rock Island and From Cover to Cover. While the Mortar Board does not have any other events planned at this moment, they hope to make the ‘Are You Smarter Than An Augie Student?’ an annual event and get the word spread more about the Mortar Board and their mission.