Andy Kamis | Staff Writer
Feb. 2, 2023
Duquesne’s Resident Hall Association (RHA) kicked off their second annual Game Show Night Thursday evening in the Towers multipurpose room.
Student contestants competed against their fellow peers in teams of two for a variety of different prizes, with the most sought-out rewards being two Amazon Fire TVs. Other prizes included Amazon Echo Dots, assorted snack baskets and several gift cards up to $50. All prizes were provided through a partnership between Duquesne and Comcast’s Xfinity company.
“Comcast is always willing to help us out and donate and by partnering with [us] we also help them. Both sides benefit,” said Samyia Henry, president of the RHA.
In addition to the prizes, Henry said that Comcast also grants all on-campus Duquesne students a free subscription to multiple online streaming services like HBO Max and Xfinity On Demand.
“It’s not something that’s advertised outside of RHA’s and Comcast’s partnership, so we definitely want students to know that they have access to these nice streaming services,” Henry said.
The inspiration for the game show event came out of last year’s success and as a means to meet student interest.
“We know that Duquesne students love their game nights,” Henry said. “So we thought it would be a really good hit especially since it’s so cold outside.”
The first of the three games RHA hosted was Jeopardy, with each team competing to answer questions from five different categories: mathematics, science, pop culture, sports and Duquesne History. Contestants were even able to present creative names for their teams during Jeopardy, such as “Swifties” and “The Jokers.”
Whereas Jeopardy served well as an opening game and had a good response, the smiles and laughter really started during RHA’s second competition—”The Roommate Game.”
In order to participate, each pair of students were required to face away from their partner and were equipped with white boards and Expo markers. The contestants were tested on how well they knew their partners by precisely answering obscure personal questions, such as their favorite television shows or class schedules. Answers had to be exact matches for teams to gain points.
The competition intensified during the final game, which consisted of many “minute-to-win-it” challenges where each pair of students had to complete a certain task within a minute. After the time elapsed, teams would rotate to the next station and try their luck at the following challenge until every station was completed. Each win the contestants earned was added up and counted toward their final scores.
One of the most difficult minute games required teams to each keep two balloons from touching the ground. If one balloon fell, both team members failed the challenge. This was especially difficult when the balloons were not of equal size or air quality.
Another hard challenge forced teams to find a single penny amongst several hundred bingo chips.
“Seeing everyone really go hard for all of these games in a minute to try and win, and encouraging their partners, and figuring out strategies—it’s just really nice to see how people’s minds work,” Henry said.
Freshmen Mike Nowiczenko and Dominic Belko earned first place overall and took home the Amazon Fire TV as their prize.
Nowiczenko said that he and Belko have become “closer than roommates” ever since they met at the beginning of the academic year and both showed an interest in the game show event after learning about it.
They specifically liked one of the “minute-to-win-it” games where they had to throw ping pong balls into cups.
When asked how the two would fare in an actual big game show, Belko said: “We are the most dynamic duo on the planet and we will be taking on Jeopardy in 2024.”
Students interested in upcoming RHA events should look for future emails regarding upcoming programs. All students are eligible participate.