Emarie Majors, a sophomore majoring in visual arts from Montana, said she decided to arrange a Jeopardy! competition between her older sister Anneke Garcia, who has competed in Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions and BYU-Hawaii Professors Jim Tueller and Rebekah Strain.
Majors explained she decided to put this event on to highlight a nonprofit in Honolulu called Hawaii Mother’s Milk Inc. as part of an assignment in her international development class.
Majors said she is passionate about helping young mothers because “a lot of moms struggle with breastfeeding for the full suggested amount of time because of all the issues and difficulties they encounter during the process.”
She added she wants “college-aged young women and men to learn about this organization.” She decided to connect her passion for educating young mothers with a fun event because she “remembered [her] sister [Garcia] was coming to Hawaii for Thanksgiving with her family and figured [she] could make a fun campus event out of her visit.”
Dr. Rand Blimes, associate professor for the Faculty of Business & Government, will host the event on Monday, Nov. 29 at 5:30 p.m. in the Little Theatre. Majors said all who attend should “expect a riveting tournament and an environment where they can cheer on their professors.”
Majors said, “My sister, Anneke Garcia, is incredibly spunky, intelligent and one of the funniest people I know.” She explained Garcia has a doctorate in instructional psychology and technology with an emphasis in second language acquisition and has “also worked as an instructor at BYU in Provo, teaching technology in the classroom and educational psychology courses.
“In addition, she worked in Taiwan teaching middle and high school courses and in Shanghai, China, as a private academic tutor specializing in special needs students.”
According to the BYUH website, Tueller, a professor for the Faculty of Culture, Language & Performing Arts, has a doctorate from Columbia University and speaks Spanish, French, Tagalog and Arabic.
Strain, deputy Title IX coordinator and adjunct faculty in the Faculty of Religious Education and the Faculty of Culture, Language & Performing Arts, said she received a bachelor’s degree in history, a doctorate from BYU in Provo and speaks Spanish.
Majors said she is excited and nervous for the event tonight. “Apparently, the difficulty level of Jeopardy! trivia is fit for college professors. I always learn a lot when I watch the show, and there’s nothing better than being entertained while learning fun facts.”