The Rose-Hulman Quiz Bowl club was founded in September of 2004 by Chris Grubb, Amber Pennington, Angela Smiley, Ken Kowalik and John Beety. The expressed purpose behind forming the club was to promote academic excellence through friendly competition, not only at Rose, but at other schools as well, and to hold weekly practices.

In its first year, the ten different individuals attended five different tournaments (Depauw DUNCE Bowl, the ACF Fall Tournament, Gateway XII at Washington Universitiy, the NAQT Sectionals and Duck Bowl at DePauw), showing dedication by paying out its their own pockets for the first three. The club was granted probationary status by SGA on January 11, 2005, and approved for a preliminary budget to pay for question packets and tournament registration and transportation costs.

Prior to 2004, Rose-Hulman had a school-wide College Bowl tournament, which had been very popular. Although the club's official policy calls for non-involvement with the tournament, there were fears that a newly formed club would interfere with the cherished institution, a viewpoint espoused by John Beety who had since left the club, and is perhaps the best College Bowl player the institution has known.

As turnout to practices gradually dwindled to only five or six members, the Rose-Hulman College Bowl tournament took place. The turnout was markedly disappointing, with only 10 teams registered, compared with around 30 during the two previous years. Presumably there was a perception that the existence of a club would make the College Bowl tournament a moot point, or that success would be unreachable for all but the most elite teams, especially if its members had also practiced with the club.

It is unfortunate that Rose-Hulman's recent successes in College Bowl, including a trip to nationals in the Spring of 2004, or the formation of the club may have had anything to do with this decline, because we feel that both programs have the same goals, and should both be promoted because they are a strong reminder of the institution's commitment to not only academic excellence, but also the enjoyment and pride of it.

We think a quiz bowl club is a valuable thing for the Rose community and reflects well upon our institution. We hope that next year a new team can be formed with a greater number of people and less perceived entanglement or conflict of interest.

On May 10th of 2005, the club was approved for full club status with all the rights and priveleges thereof. We look forward to promoting academic competition for many years to come.

Home