CSU-Pueblo student selected for 2017 Hispanic College Quiz Show

PUEBLO – A Colorado State University-Pueblo senior has been selected as one of 12 participants in the 2017 State Farm Hispanic College Quiz (HCQ) show series, through which students from Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities (HACU) member institutions compete for scholarships by answering questions on Latino history in a game show format.

The series, sponsored by State Farm and produced by Central City Productions in partnership with the HACU, consists of four half-hour quiz shows on Hispanic/Latino history that offer a $3000 scholarship to the winners of each show, totaling four awards during the series.

Trinidad native Yolanda Gamboa, a non-traditional senior from Pueblo majoring in social work, will travel to Nashville, Tenn. July 21-23 with coach Fawn Amber Montoya, director of the University’s Honors Program, to film the competition. The show will be broadcast nationally, Sept. 3 - Oct. 16, during Hispanic Heritage Month. The broadcast schedule will be posted on HACU’s website upon availability.   

Gamboa worked as a teaching assistant last summer for the University’s summer MAESTRO program and has been employed as a work study student in the Center for Teaching and Learning and Chicano Studies. She will graduate in May of 2018.

The Hispanic College Quiz was launched in 2008 as a team competition between Latino students from various Hispanic-serving higher education institutions. In recent years, the show has evolved into an individual head-to-head rivalry. HCQ is designed to encourage an appreciation of Hispanic culture by presenting information and engaging students in a spirit of healthy competition. Through the Hispanic College Quiz show series, knowledge of various Latino ethnicities has grown exponentially. Hispanics are the youngest and fastest-growing population and HCQ has changed the national dialogue on the accomplishments and achievements of this minority group. 

The Hispanic College Quiz show series seeks to foster greater knowledge of various cultures by sharing information about these cultures and to inspire all people, young and old, to have an appreciation of the contributions of minorities to the way of life all Americans (and citizens of other nations) take pride in and relish. 

Gamboa, the only representative from a Colorado institution, will compete against these 11 students from HACU-member schools:

• Adelphi University (N.Y.) Student: Brianna Bosque |Coach: Estefania Zea, project coordinator, diversity & inclusion 

• Coastal Bend College (Texas) Student: Luis Martinez | Coach: Cynthia Alvarado-Stinson, Ed.D, interim site director

• Florida Atlantic University Student:  Elizabeth Hume | Coach: Marlynn Lopez, assistant director 

• Laredo Community College (Texas) Student: Francisco Gallardo | Coach: Rosemary Aguero, advisement coordinator advocate, Title V- Building Scholars Program 

• Oklahoma Panhandle State University Student: Ami Torres | Coach: Teri Mora, director of Hispanic student services, director of Upward Bound

• Pasadena City College (Calif.) Student: Santos G. Martinez | Coach: Carlos “Tito” Altamirano, PCC Pathways coordinator 

• Savannah State University (Ga.) Student: Michael Villanueva | Coach: Francisco J. Duque, multicultural outreach coordinator

• South Mountain Community College (Ariz.) Student:  Jose Cabrera | Coach: Summer Cherland, Ph.D., history professor, MEChA advisor