It has been 25 years since American Honda Motor Co., Inc. (Honda) started the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, which has been bringing teams from the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) together in a nationwide academic competition. This annual competition challenges students’ knowledge on a variety of subjects including African-American history, math and science, sports, pop culture and current events.
The Goal of the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge
As a part of Honda’s corporate social responsibility, the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, was launched to create lasting beneficial relationships with communities. Its purpose is to enhance the lives of many students through an academic competition. Every year, the company awards a total of over $300,000 to participating colleges and universities. Since its inception in 1989, Honda has already awarded more than $7million in grants to HBCUs.
Honda awards the winning institution with a $50,000 grant. These grants are used to improve school facilities, increase resources and improve campus life that will ultimately benefit the students.
How HBCUs Participate in the HCASC
Students from any 4-year degree granting Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the US may participate in the HCASC. There are three levels of play in the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge – Campus, NCT Qualifying Tournament sand the National Championship Tournament.
Undergraduate students are first recruited to try out for the campus tournament by using Power Search quizzes to assess the participant’s knowledge base. This recruitment phase takes place from summer into fall. The top players are then invited into the HCASC Club where they will go through drills, game practice and other events, in preparation for the campus tournament in October.
By January, the school coach names the 4 players who will compose the NCT team. The National Qualifying Tournaments are held on February 15 and 16, 2014. The teams that win this NCT Qualifying tournament will attend the National Championship Tournament to be held on April 12-16, 2014 in Los Angeles, California.
Honda HCASC Grants
Grants are awarded to institutions that complete the NCT Qualification. The amount of these grants vary, depending on how far the participating institution’s team has advanced at the NCT, starting from $3,000 for teams who were eliminated on the first level.
During the play off qualifiers, 8 teams who will be eliminated will receive $6,000 each. Two semi-finalist teams are given $15,000 each, while the runner-up receives $25,000. The winning institution receives $50,000. These awards are given directly to the institutions and not to the players or the coach.
How HCASC Benefits HBCUs and Students
The Honda Campus All-Star Challenge is an annual activity that brings the HBCU campus community. It highlights the excellence of these institutions through the academic achievement of their students. Students do not receive the grant money directly, but they gain other benefits when they participate in the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge. They learn the importance of discipline and teamwork in order to be successful. They gain new friends and celebrate the camaraderie that they enjoy while participating in this activity.
Almost 100,000 students have already participated in the “Honda HBCU Battle of Brains” and many of those participants have been successful in their own careers.
Mark your calendars for Monday, April 14, 2014. That’s when you can watch the 25th Annual HCASC Championship live-streamed at www.hcsc.com at 12:30 pm EST.
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