On February 21st, the Alcorn Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) team and Honda Club members attend the 2026 National Qualifying Tournament (NQT) at Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
The 2025-2026 season marks the 37th year of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, the premier academic quiz competition. This gathering of our nation’s best and brightest students includes not only the competition, but more importantly, it creates experiential opportunities, networking, mentorship, and life-long relationships on a year-round basis. HCASC alumni are found across the globe, pursuing careers in science, medicine, media, engineering, education, industry, government, law, and more. This competition is America’s premier academic competition for students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), with more than 150 thrilling games of head-to-head competition.
The typical Honda Competition features questions from a variety of academic subjects, including Literature, Visual Art, Religion, Geography, World History, African American History, Pop Culture, Social Science, Science, Technology, Music, Sports, Mathematics, current events, and more.
The Alcorn HCASA team consisted of Carson Posey (Captain), Jaden Coleman (Member), Telaiah Lewis (Member- Alternate), D’Anthony Lilly (Member), and Dr. Wandra Arrington, HCASA Coach/Coordinator.
The Honda Club members who traveled for support were Jaylon McDougal, Ellis Terrett, and Dr. Shawnta Chatman. The Honda Club practices and trains club members for the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (HCASC) competitions and the Quiz Bowl competitions.
To get ready for the NQT, the team practices by playing games on the Honda Game Play database and on the HCASC website.
On the day of the NQT competition, there was a 30-minute orientation for all 10 teams to familiarize themselves with the rules. This time allowed all of the university teams to meet, ask questions, and get to know one another before facing off. Each team was guaranteed four rounds to gain points to advance to the playoff competition at the end of the day. Alcorn’s team faced off against Alabama A&M in round #2, Rust College in round #5, Southern University-New Orleans in round #8, and finally Albany State in round #10. The Alcorn team, in round #5, defeated Rust College but fell short against the other opponents.
Jeremy Nelson, an NQT alumnus stated, “If I had to give one word, it would be ecstatic in seeing Alcorn back in competition.” 2025 was Alcorn’s first year back in competition in Montgomery, Alabama, after not participating in four years.
Dr. Wandra Arrington, the Alcorn HCASA Coach/Coordinator and Director of the Myrlie Evers-Williams Honors Program, stated, “I am very proud of the students and how they represented the university during the competition. They were a great example of how we continue to challenge our students on and off campus. There will be minor changes made in the upcoming year, but we still plan to compete in future competitions.”
Jaden Coleman stated, “HCASC is a great outlet for both gaining and displaying various knowledge and is an engaging experience.”
If you are interested in participating in the Honda Club, please contact Dr. Arrington, at (601) 877-6138 or warrington@alcorn.edu.
