By: Andrew Koch ~Campus News Editor~
The Center for International Education (CIE) hosted its annual WorldQuest competition on Feb. 14 in Cintas Center’s Duff Banquet Center.
The competition tests teams’ knowledge of recent world events and trivia, pairing international and local students with Xavier faculty and staff. Twenty-four teams of faculty and students, including groups representing the Actuarial Science Club, the International Business Association and the Student Enrichment office, entered this year’s competition.
WorldQuest’s organizers hope the event will inform students of other cultures and bring the Xavier community together.
“I see WorldQuest as an educational event not only aimed at educating local citizens but everyone (in the community), and creating an environment where we can build team spirit and collaboration skills,” Claire Archibald, a graduate assistant in the CIE, said.
Archibald also hopes the event will help students better understand the challenges facing other countries, like the current political turmoil in Venezuela.
“(WorldQuest) creates passion in people to fight for others’ rights and against oppressors and dictators, but we have to foster the knowledge before we can foster the passion,” Archibald said.
The team sponsored by the Department of Mathematics, The Radicals, won this year’s competition.
“Apart from the fact that events like WorldQuest encourage people to expand their awareness of world cultures and events, it’s a great opportunity for students, faculty and staff all to work together in a way that everyone’s contribution can be valuable,” Fr. Joseph Wagner, S.J., of The Radicals said. “More than a couple times I was reminded of how much more my students know about some things than I do.”
Students who participated in WorldQuest also recognized the event’s potential for collaboration.
“It was really fun to compete with such a talented group where everyone was able to contribute their own knowledge,” senior Sean Gravelle, another member of The Radicals, said. “It was quite thrilling for the math department team to win once again.”
The winning Radicals team also included student Drew Phillips, Dr. Hsing-Yi Kao from the history department, Dr. Bin Yu from the political science department and mathematics professors Dr. Minnie Catral, Dr. Daniel Otero and Dr. Esmeralda Nastase.
Though The Radicals won the big prize of the evening, the Perfect Passive Progressives, a group of business majors, took second place and the team representing Voices of Solidarity came in third.
Previous World Quest winners include the Spanish Club, the Intensive English Program and the Biology Club