American University of Beirut

North American alumni face off in the Battle of the Chapters

​Friday, June 4, 2021

Over a period of two weeks in late May/early June, teams from 12 WAAAUB chapters in North America competed in the Battle of the Chapters – WAAAUB North American Trivia Tournament​. What was at stake? Bragging rights as “WAAAUB North American trivia champions” and the opportunity to designate an AUB fund to receive the money donated to the Chapters Prize Fund.

Alumni teams were asked questions about AUB, Lebanon, history, sports, pop culture, and music. Alumni Relations Officer Marika Fraser took the lead in organizing the questions that were contributed by many colleagues. “It was very much a team effort,” she said. “I learned a lot about AUB and Lebanon in the process.” The tournament was friendly, but the competition was fierce – especially on Thursday night (May 27) when the Greater Los Angeles Chapter team prevailed against teams from the Houston, Midwest, and Northern California Chapters. It took four tiebreaks, but in the end the Greater LA Chapter came out on top taking the least amount of time to come up with the correct answer to the last tie breaker question. “I was worried that I would run out of questions,” said Assistant Director of Alumni Relations Justin Tessier who excelled as a skilled and judicious quizmaster throughout the tournament. Earlier that same evening, the Upstate New York Chapter won a seat in the June 2 final beating teams from the Michigan, Montreal, and New York Metropolitan Chapters.

The tournament began on Tuesday, May 25 when teams from the Atlanta, Greater Washington, DC, Indiana, and Central and North Florida Chapters battled against each other for a seat in the June 2 finals. The Central and North Florida Chapter team came out on top that evening. 

The final on June 2 pitted teams from the Central and North Florida, Greater Los Angeles, and Upstate New York Chapters. They fielded questions about AUB, sports, and entertainment. It was a closely fought competition, but in the end the Greater Los Angeles Chapter prevailed with 25 points. The evening ended with a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Fatme Allam Awayda, a member of the Upstate New York Chapter team, followed by a performance of Zaki Nassif’s “Rajeh Yetaamar Lebnan.” 

“The knowledge of our alumni teams was, not surprisingly, impressive,” said Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations-North America and WAAAUB General Secretary Lina Jazi. “I was equally impressed, but again not surprised, by the generosity of our alumni who contributed almost $9,000 to the Chapters Prize Fund. A special shout-out to the members of the Upstate New York Chapter who were especially generous. It was a terrific event,” she continued. “We’re already thinking about when to hold the next trivia tournament.” The full amount donated to the Chapters Prize Fund will benefit the WAAAUB Southern California Chapter Endowed Scholarship, which is the initiative selected by the winning Greater Los Angeles Chapter.​

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