Hut Trivia Night

Opinion

Nov 21

Did you know that Abraham Lincoln was actually a licensed bartender? Or that Antarctica is the largest desert on Earth? How about that cheetahs are the only big cats that cannot roar? Don’t worry if you didn’t—neither did I until I attended Trivia Night at The Hut with my fellow Opinion section members.

Though I am unsure where the idea came from, we unanimously agreed at one of our meetings that the five of us had to commit to going as a team-bonding experience. This “Dream Team” of trivia contestants consisted of Toni Spellacy ’26, Saul Johnson ’28, Kimmie Johansen ’27, Christina McManus ’28 and me, with a special guest appearance by Nina Glick ’26 to take some photos.

With the exception of former Hut Trivia Champion Christina, none of us had ever been to Trivia Night before. The categories for the night were Geography, Presidents, Animals and Fashion; and after some food and drinks, the game began.

The atmosphere throughout the night was laid-back, but rounds did get pretty competitive, with teams cheering loudly every time they got an answer correct. We especially had fun yelling out clearly incorrect answers to throw the competition off our trail.

Though our efforts weren’t enough to win, most of the fun came from playing the game itself. Our regular teamwork finally extended beyond the newsroom.

“It was nice to meet outside the normal environment to bond as an opinion unit. It’s fun to bond with people when it’s kind of random or something that you don’t normally do,” Christina said.

One part of the night that I really enjoyed was the “no-phone policy,” which was mainly there to stop any team from looking up answers online. But beyond that, I felt it was a good way to make sure you were really engaging with your team and enjoying the experience. There aren’t a lot of places these days where we aren’t on our phones, so this was a good refresher.

“It’s fun to be able to put your phones away, and hang out with your friends while getting way too competitive about trivia,” Kimmie said.

Looking around, almost every team was noticeably filled with fellow Santa Clara University students. And throughout the night, a few people we recognized came to our table between rounds to say hello. Odds are that you’ll find some people you recognize as well.

So even though we didn’t win—or even come especially close—I would highly recommend getting a group of friends together and taking on Trivia Night at The Hut.

There’s a chance that you’ll come away with a win, but an even better chance you’ll have a good time.

Secondary

Jack Kyle