Ball State University freshman Emily Sandoval will never forget the name Willie T. Ribbs, she said.
After participating in the Black Student Association's Black History 101 game show Wednesday night, she learned that Ribbs was the only black driver to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.
Sandoval was one of three students who took the hot seat in the black history game show that mirrored "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" hosted by Meredith Vieira.
"I didn't think I knew that much, (but) I didn't think it would hurt to try," Sandoval said. She correctly answered eight out of 10 questions during her round.
The game featured trivia questions on various topics such as politics, science, sports, music and entertainment. Like the television show, contestants had the opportunity to use three lifelines -- Ask the Audience, 50/50 and Ask-a-Friend in the audience.
Some questions challenged students' knowledge on familiar topics, such as Michael Jordan's success in leading the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships in the 1990s and Jackie Robinson's breaking the color barrier in baseball.
Other questions, such as Crispus Attucks' becoming the first American casualty of the Revolutionary War, were more challenging for students.
Prizes for contestants included a Black History Month certificate, a BSA T-shirt and a grand prize $10 gift certificate to any shop or area in Muncie.
Sophomore Paul Best said being in the hot seat was exciting and worthwhile.
"I forgot I knew (all of) that," Best said. "I knew all of that from when I was little."
This was BSA's first black history game show. The organization got the idea from the Asian-American Student Association's Jeopardy-style game show during its month of events in November, Cameron Radford, vice president of BSA and game show host, said. About 13 students attended the event.
"I was expecting more people," Radford said. "This was about maybe a quarter of what I expected, so I'm kind of disappointed with the turnout, but I'm still happy people came out ... even if it was one person, it's still one person that learned something new."
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