The King’s College Hosts Western Civilization Challenge Bowl Tournament

On January 25, The King’s College welcomed students from the James Madison Program at Princeton University, Grove City College, and the Abigail Adams Institute at Harvard University for the Second American History and Western Civilization Challenge Bowl sponsored by the American Heritage Education Foundation. Grove City College won the two-day competition with a team comprised of Noah Gould, Carolyn Hartwick, and Elena Peters, with Dr. Jason R. Edwards as coach.

The competition included semi-final rounds on Friday evening during which each member of the three-person teams presented an oral essay on the philosophical and historical origins of constitutional accountability. The rhetorical portion, scored out of 300 points, was followed by 30 minutes of topical toss-up questions in the style of the 1960s-70s General Electric College Bowl, complete with buzzers and a scoreboard. The material ranged from biblical knowledge to classical philosophy to U.S. government.

The King’s College team comprised Michael Napoli (PPE ’19), Elle Rogers (PHL ’19), and Abigail Rose Smith (PPE Dec ’19), and was coached by Dr. Joshua Kinlaw. In Friday’s semi-final rounds, King’s surpassed Harvard’s Abigail Adams team with a score of 281-256 in the rhetorical portion, but the Harvard students overtook King’s during the quiz bowl portion, with a final score of 581-506. Grove City College won against Princeton’s team from the James Madison Program and proceeded to the final round against Harvard on Saturday afternoon.

After Friday’s competition, the finalists were given a new speech prompt to prepare for the next day: the origins, development, and justification of the American idea that all men are created equal. Grove City earned 282 points during the speeches, making the case that equality originates with the imago Dei, which the movement of the Church has spread across Western Civilization. Now, America is divided at a critical juncture: we can return to the equality of the imago Dei as espoused by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or we can pursue the secular modernism promoted by Nietzsche, Sartre, and Marx. “How must we save this divided house doomed to fail?” asked Grove City’s Noah Gould. “First, to repair the house, we need to know where these ideas came from. I stand with my brothers and sisters at Harvard today when I echo the original mission statement of Harvard, saying, ‘We must lay Christ at the bottom as the only foundation of sound knowledge.’ We must acknowledge the unique heritage of the imago Dei, and so, surely, the house will not fall.”

Grove City College won the competition after another 30 minutes of quiz bowl-style questions, with a final score of 537-526.

“Many Americans are not informed about American heritage or the American idea,” said Angela Kamrath, president and editorial director of AHEF. “We believe this is a problem because we are a republic and we depend on an educated citizenry in order to continue to improve our nation. We hope that this program will encourage colleges and universities to teach and students to learn America’s heritage.”

“It was an honor to participate in the second AHWCCB,” said King’s competitor Michael Napoli. “I was impressed by the intellect and poise of all the competitors, and I am especially proud of my teammates Abby Smith and Elle Rogers for their most excellent speeches. Though our team did not advance to the finals, I believe we successfully demonstrated that understanding our history and heritage today is crucial to maintaining liberty and prosperity tomorrow.”

Scholarship awards were presented to all participating members.

The American History and Western Civilization Challenge Bowl™ is sponsored by the American Heritage Education Foundation, Inc., 3100 Weslayan, Ste. 375, Houston, Texas 77027-5731. Contact 713-627-2698 or visit www.americanheritage.org with any questions.