Livingstone College News Service

SALISBURY — Livingstone College competed in the National Qualifying Tournament of the 35th Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC), America’s premier academic competition for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) students on Feb. 10, at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro.

In the tournament, four-student teams faced off in head-to-head competition and quickly answered questions about history, science, literature, religion, math, the arts, pop culture and sports against their opponents. Finishing third at the N.C. A&T State University location, Livingstone College is one of 64 teams competing for institutional grants from Honda and a spot in the HCASC National Championship Tournament taking place on the American Honda corporate campus in Torrance, Calif., April 6-10.

The Livingstone College team includes captain and junior business administration major, Jacob Adkins of Dunn, junior business administration major Christian Bussey of Pensacola, Florida, freshman English education major Kamari Scales of Gibsonville and freshman biology major Kielee Jones of Houston, Texas. The team is coached by faculty Dr. Da’Tarvia Parrish.

Team captain Jacob Adkins said, “I am really happy Honda provides this opportunity for us. At Livingstone, we’re building a team with people I would not have ever met. I am quite pleased with our performance at the tournament and our team overall because we have brain chemistry and everyone pitches in the best they can. Also, it’s pretty amazing to meet other scholars from different HBCUs throughout the nation a build a network with purposeful and like-minded people.” 

HCASC is a year-round program celebrating Black excellence and showcasing the academic talents of top HBCU students from across the country. HCASC challenges students to expand their scope of knowledge on a wide range of topics while also helping to develop their leadership and collaboration skills. With the opportunity to compete against students from other HBCUs, participants network, build camaraderie and gain mentorship opportunities with HCASC alumni. This year, Honda will provide more than $500,000 in institutional grants to the participating HBCUs with many of the schools utilizing the grants to fund student scholarships. More than 170,000 scholars have competed in HCASC since the academic tournament was established in 1989.