Dr. Oluwa Tosin Adegbola, third from the left, is coach of Morgan State’s Honda Campus All-Star Challenge team.
Competing on his high school quiz bowl team and for Morgan State in the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge “made [him] want to get better in life,” he said, noting that he joined the team as a college senior during the 1990-91 academic year.
“[Those experiences] instilled in me the drive to get better … competition brings out the best in me,” Branch explained. “Even though our team didn’t reach the highest of heights, [the experiences] prepared me as an individual for the highest of heights and that’s why I work for the world’s premier space agency.”
In addition to his own college quiz team experience, Branch takes considerable pride in knowing that the Morgan State University team has been the reigning national champion in 2012 and 2013, and has been defending its title in competition this winter and spring. “The Morgan State program apparently has gotten really good over the years,” noted Branch.
Since 1989, the American Honda Motor Company has sponsored the national quiz competition that showcases the intellectual talent of the best and brightest students attending historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). This week, the 25th anniversary year of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge culminates with the national championship tournament in Torrance, Calif., at which Morgan State University is seeking a record third consecutive national title.
Since Saturday, hundreds of students from 48 schools have been competing in Honda’s longest running U.S. philanthropic program in the United States. A total of 76 HBCUs fielded four-person teams during national qualifying tournaments this winter. During this week’s national championship tournament, the teams are competing for the national title and a grand prize of $50,000. The other participating HBCU teams earn institutional grants from Honda that total nearly $328,000 each year. The grand prize and institutional grants support academic activities at the schools.
“It’s a great opportunity [for students] to learn a lot of things regardless of [their] major and that’s a good thing,” said Dr. Oluwa Tosin Adegbola, the Morgan State University quiz team coach and an associate professor in the school’s Department of Communications Studies.
