Trivia Night Lives On Despite COVID

By Anna Clement, Contributing Writer

It’s one of the few events keeping students together. Trivia Night is a weekly occasion at HVCC. For years, student activities have provided in-person Trivia Night for students. With the COVID-19 pandemic keeping students off-campus, HVCC has to find another way to provide the event. 

Now, Hudson Valley Community College students can participate in trivia virtually via Zoom during the Fall semester. 

Kevin Baker, owner of Trivia Nights Live!, has been hosting trivia nights for over 30 years. He tunes into Zoom on Wednesday evenings to host virtual trivia for HVCC students.

“It’s fun to entertain, and it’s a great creative outlet for me as I take the preparation and question-writing very seriously,” Baker said.

One of the prizes includes credit to the bookstore. The winning team, runner up, and third place win $50, $25, and $10 gift cards, respectively.

Victorianna Rosenburg is a member of the often successful team Honor-able Mentions. She says she appreciates the socialization encouraged by this event.

“It is such a great way for us [Honor-able Mentions team members] to get to stay in touch and spend time together with COVID going on,” Rosenburg said.

Many contestants were compelled to compete because of the prizes. “We have a handful of teams that play every week, and they battle it out. It’s the competition against other teams [that brings people back] but also the challenge to yourself and your teammates to play a little better each week.”

Other contestants include teams like The Beliebers, Honor-able Mentions, and Will This Be On The Test?, who compete for spots on the leaderboard.

Despite COVID-19 restrictions, Dashira Cortes, Assistant Director of Student Activities, says the college still felt compelled to move forward with Trivia Night virtually. 

“We can’t do them [events] on campus so we’re trying to do them virtually, and so we thought trivia would be really really fun,” Cortes said. 

Virtual trivia presents a recess from life’s distractions without infringing on participants’ safety or comfort levels.

Rosenburg said she appreciated Hudson Valley’s concern when it came to the virus. “I’m glad HVCC is taking COVID so seriously. Online events are a great alternative to still get somewhat involved on campus without actually being on campus.” Rosenberg said. 

Baker said that he thought the event was a fun distraction from the doom and gloom of 2020. “MflTrivia is a fun way to spend an hour testing your useless knowledge; a nice diversion from classes, studying, and all the craziness in the world right now,” Baker said.

The process involves Baker presenting questions alongside a countdown and graphics via Zoom. Interactions among participants may be different, but not they are not meaningless.

This contactless answer sheet allows players to submit responses virtually. The website also contains a scoreboard that updates as the game progresses.

Baker said that the game is hard not to get enough of. “Competition starts to build, and the game is addictive.” He continued, so tell your friends and join us Wednesdays at 7pm!”

Students can register for the event online at the HVCC website.