With a night of challenging history questions, energetic competition and free pizza, the Society of Student Historians (SSH) trivia night was a lively evening filled with laughter and knowledge.
The trivia night, hosted by SSH in 221 Himes Hall, was set up similar to the game show “Jeopardy.” There were different categories of questions, with each question having an assigned point value. Teams were given the chance to pick a question, but if they got it wrong, the other teams could steal the points by correctly answering it. To end the game, a “Final Jeopardy” question was given, determining the winner.
The question categories consisted of ancient history, Asian history, European History, African History, European History, Latin American History and U.S. History. Each category had five questions. The lowest point value was 200, and the highest was 1,000.
Matthew Pellittieri, vice president of SSH and a history and political science major, said the club chooses to host a trivia night every semester.
“It turns into a lot of fun, rather than just memorizing names and dates,” Pellittieri said. “It makes a game out of it, which is useful to a lot of people to get into history. It allows you to sort of dive into a lot of different areas.”
The attendees were split into four teams, with each team composed of five to six students and one professor. Everyone was encouraged to team up with people they did not know. SSH President Christian Black, a history and Spanish major, wants everyone to use these events to get to know other people.
“My favorite part is getting to know other history students because I generally do feel that our club is the best way to do that,” Black said. “I get to meet all these kinds of different people that are in the history program, and that just leads to a better time in history at LSU.”
Once groups formed, they were tasked with coming up with creative team names, resulting in Grudge, WinnerZ, Team 3 and T. Hippos.
Competition was fierce as the game commenced. Teams went straight for the high value questions, which grew increasingly niche. Instead of getting discouraged, however, each team worked dynamically to use each other’s strengths.
With questions ranging from the longest-serving Hispanic member of Congress to the volcano that obliterated Pompeii, some had even the professors stumped, while others had everyone in the room wishing they had picked it. A few questions even had the teams jumping with excitement as they called out the correct answer.
Once all of the category questions were completed, it was time for “Final Jeopardy,” where teams bet points they have accumulated. With team Grudge in the lead by 2,300 points, many teams went all in, betting everything they had. However, team T. Hippo only bet 3,699 of their points, leaving just one point in case everyone got the question wrong.
Once bets were finalized and the question posed, each team quickly scribbled their answers on paper and handed them in. The room buzzed with anticipation until the answer was revealed. The room erupted with cheers and laughs as they realized every team answered correctly, identifying the Great Fire of 1871, which happened in Chicago 154 years ago.
Team T. Hippo soon realized they had won with 7,399 points, eliciting cheers of victory from the group. In second was Grudge with 7,000 points, third was WinnerZ with 6,400 points and fourth was Team 3 with 4,000 points.
After a great game of trivia, everyone was invited to take as much pizza as they liked and were encouraged to come back for more SSH events.
Although the organization is named the Society of Student Historians, the club is not off-limits to those in non-history majors. Social media manager Isabella Pollet, who is a history major herself, explained that SSH is for anyone who shows up to an event.
“You don’t have to be a history major or minor, you can just have an interest in it,” Pollet said. “Just come to club meetings and meet other people in the department. We’re all friendly, I promise.”
The club focuses on having fun while learning history, but it serves a higher purpose on campus and in the community.
“We are very important with the preservation of history,” Pollet explained. “We keep it alive by discussing it and trying to have fun with it, and that is something that in these times is very important to keep history alive and well. We need that in our society.”
President Black invites suggestions to make the club better, as they are hoping to continue growing their organization and increasing event attendance.
“People can reach out to us officers with ideas about doing stuff,” Black said. “I’m always looking for more ways to reach out to people in history.”
Students who would like to get involved in SSH can follow the organization on Instagram and join their group on TigerLink for the most up-to-date information on events.
