The questions ranged from science to pop culture, and “multiple sclerosis” was the $50,000 answer for students from Seventh-day Adventist-owned Oakwood University competing in a national college bowl.

The Huntsville, Alabama-based Oakwood team joined more than 320 college students from 64 other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) for the 19th annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge on March 28 to 29.

Oakwood, which has participated in the challenge for 12 years, bested Alcom State University in the challenge’s final National Champion round to take the trophy. Challenge organizers accommodate Sabbath-keeping Oakwood students by allowing them to compete before or after the Sabbath hours.

“We’d all been working hard for this,” team captain and Oakwood senior Alesis Turner told the Adventist Review. “We prayed our way through the whole tournament. It shows what can be accomplished with prayer and hard work.” 

Founded and hosted by the American Honda Motor Co., Inc., the tournament honors the heritage of HBCUs and tests their top students’ knowledge of world history, science, literature, religion, the arts, social sciences, popular culture and African American history and culture.

Honda doles out more than $300,000 in institutional grants each year to the participating HBCUs.

The tournament is the largest and most prestigious annual academic competition between the nation’s leading HBCUs. More than 50,000 students have won over $5 million in institutional grants since the first challenge in 1989. The grants improve campus life by funding academic resources and faculty.

Joining Turner to round out the Oakwood team were sophomore Marcus Cooper, junior Monique-Renée Pinnock and seniors Sherwin Faria and Michael Vance under the coaching of Dr. Rennae Elliott.