Stillman College’s Lawrence Brown, Ketrina Childs of Bethune-Cookman, Nandi Stewart from Spelman College And Talladega College’s Alexis Tardy – Top Winners List

 By Naomi Logan Richard

Students from the nation’s leading historically black colleges clashed in a battle of wits at the 7th Annual Ford Black College Quiz Show.  This year’s winners shared over $25K in cash prizes, and earned 12-months of bragging rights for their respective schools.  Host RonReaco Lee (BET’s “Let’s Stay Together”) awarded championship medals and cold hard cash to the student participants in the “Jeopardy-style” nationally televised challenge.

“Participating in this year’s Ford Black College Quiz has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my career to date,” said Lee. “Being able to interact with the students and witness first hand their enthusiasm, competitive nature and sheer brain power is something I know I’ll never forget!”

Produced by Central City Productions, in the show’s seventh season the format was tweaked slightly to allow each participant an opportunity to win cash prizes based on their ranking after four rounds of competitive play.  The first-place winners, Stillman College’s Lawrence Brown, Bethune-Cookman student Ketrina Childs, Spelman College’s Nandi Stewart, and Alexis Tardy from Talladega College received a prize of $5,000 to further their studies.  Second-place winners, Artis Collins III of  Paine College, Rust College’s Noah Moore, Leroy Myers Jr. of  University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Coppin State University’s Tanisha Smith were awarded $1000 scholarships. $500 was given to third place prize recipients Claflin State University’s Brandon Britt, Ryan Brookens of  Hampton University, Central State University’s Karon Jones, and Terri Simon-Coleman of  Southern University at New Orleans.

“I am extremely excited about our new format for the 2013 Ford Black College Quiz series, which increased our student scholarship monies to over $25,000 – the highest ever over the 7 years of the program series,” said Don Jackson, executive producer and Central City Productions CEO.  “Also, the new format provided an opportunity for us to have four first place winners, rather than just one grand prize winner at the end of our 4-part series. This added another dimension of excitement and competition for all of the participating students.”

The Ford Black College Quiz Show featured 12 gifted students from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) skillfully displaying their knowledge of notable African-American facts. Over the course of four half-hour episodes BCQ competitors, three participants per show, earned financial scholarships for their involvement, which is a change from previous years. The top performers received $5,000 scholarships while the second and third place finishers took home $1,000 and $500 each respectively.

The series airs in syndication in various markets around the country now through March 3, 2013.  For local airdate information, please visit www.blackcollegequiz.com where the most recent list of airdates will be posted as they become available.  Viewers can also consult local TV listings to get programming information for their area.

For more information on the winners, visit www.blackcollegequiz.com. To connect with the Ford Black College Quiz on social media platforms, follow us on Twitter @BlkCollegeQuiz, and ‘like’ us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/BlackCollegeQuiz.