The History of KVSC Trivia Weekend

Every year, when winter is at its bleakest, thousands of people descend upon Central Minnesota (and many more tune in from across the globe) to test their stamina, creativity, and savvy -- all to prove they are worthiest of the title of Champion. What could draw such a crowd? KVSC Trivia Weekend, of course!

Trivia Weekend, a 50-hour contest of trivial knowledge, began at St. Cloud State University in 1980 as a way to give SCSU dormitory students something to do over a cold winter weekend. The idea came from Inter-resident Hall Association director Mike McMenamin, who had played a similar contest as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. RHA partnered with SCSU's campus radio station, KVSC, to sponsor the event.

The contest became an annual event that was eventually sponsored solely by KVSC and quickly grew in participation, organization, and sophistication. Fourteen volunteers used four telephone hotlines and tabulated scores by hand for the first contest. Recent years have required over 150 volunteers, upwards of 30 hotlines, and computer tabulation. In addition, dozens of local businesses donate food for volunteers and prizes for the teams.

In 1980, only people in KVSC's small service area could play the game. After a power boost in 1982 increased the station's coverage area, more people from the community and around Central Minnesota joined the fun. Now entire teams can participate from anywhere in the world via KVSC's live stream on the Internet. It is possible for a team to win without any members being physically present in St. Cloud.

Trivia traditions have also grown over the years, including longstanding team rivalries, the prevalence of Rick Springfield related questions, a Hall of Fame, quirky team names, an ugly traveling vase trophy, and a costumed closing ceremony.

Click on the links to the right to find out more about each year of the contest and see if you have what it takes to compete! And make sure to check out the collection of t-shirts and posters that have been produced along the way, as well as charts showing how Trivia Weekend has grown and changed over the years. (For a larger view of any of the images or documents on the subsequent pages simply click on what you want to view.)

All existing KVSC trivia weekend posters and answer books are available in the Repository @ St. Cloud State.

Credits

Cathy Coats and Krista Lewis created this exhibit in the spring of 2015. All source material comes from the records of KVSC at the St. Cloud State University Archives, with additional information from the St. Cloud Times, St. Cloud State's student newspaper the Chronicle, and kvsc.org. Thanks to Tom Hergert for photographing the t-shirt collection as well as to students Shane Weber, Sara Olson, Hannah Plachecki, Christina Christianson, Kayla Stielow, and University Archivist Tom Steman for their additional help.