FAMU set to compete in annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge

FAMU along with 48 other Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will participate in the 24th Annual Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC), April 6-10 in Los Angeles. The HCASC is the only annual academic competition held between the nation’s HBCUs. FAMU is just one of the “Great 48” participating schools preparing for the two-day tournament that will test their skills in world history, science, literature, religion, the arts, social sciences, popular culture and African-American history.

To date, the FAMU Honda Campus All-Star Challenge team is the only team to win seven national championships and has received more than $500,000 in scholarships since the beginning of the tournament.

Vivian Hobbs serves as the coach. This is Hobbs' 23rd year serving as coach. This year’s team members are as follows:

• Baysha Bernales, a junior majoring in physics from Hawthorne, Fla.;
• Kimberlyn Elliott, a freshman majoring in history from Gainesville, Fla.;
• Aubrey Upshur, a junior majoring in newspaper journalism from Philadelphia, Penn.; and
• Lila Mandela, a senior majoring in mathematics from Tallahassee, Fla.

Hobbs expressed her excitement about this year’s competition.

“This team is unstoppable,” Hobbs said. “We are a family. They have been spending countless hours in preparing for this competition. Some of my former champions have been assisting them.”

Since 1989, nearly 100,000 HBCU students have participated in the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, and Honda has awarded more than $7 million in grants to the participating HBCUs. These grants have enhanced student programs and the college experience for students.

Colleges and universities from Texas, Louisiana, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina, Illinois, Mississippi, Kentucky, Missouri, Pennsylvania and New York are slated to participate in this year’s challenge.