The faculty team was victorious in a faculty versus student basketball game that helped fundraise for the World of Work internship funding program (WOW), which provides stipends for students who take unpaid internships in the summer. A large student and faculty crowd attended the basketball game on Thursday, March 14 in the Gosman Sports and Convocation Center.
For making a donation, students received a T-shirt. Last year, 49 students received WOW grants of up to $5,000, according to the Hiatt Career Center website. The Hoops for Help fundraiser was specifically for the Internship Access Campaign, a fund which aims to support high-need students such as international students, students who entered Brandeis under DACA and low-income students.
The faculty team was comprised of professors as well as administrators, most notably Dean of Students Jamele Adams. The student team was composed of students on the Brandeis basketball team, students from the Toxic Majorette Dance Line, Student Union president Jacob Edelman ’18 and others.
The game kicked off with the emcees, Kwesi Jones ’20, Cyril Ojlere ’21 and Rachel McAllister ’21, introducing themselves as Brandeis Beacons, undergraduate student ambassadors and school spirit leaders who sponsored the event. The game was co-sponsored by the Beacons and the undergraduate Student Union.
After the first quarter, the score was faculty 10 and students four. During the break, Jones, Ojilere and McAllister led a trivia game with the crowd. The game was DJ-ed by DJ Ekenedilichukwu Uwanaka ’21, whose stage name is DJ Ekenomics.
During the second quarter, the score shot up to faculty 21 and students 17. During the first half, students were amused by some of the antics by the faculty team, whose coach loudly sounded a megaphone during a student’s free throw shot, and Dean of Students Jamele Adams, who exaggerated a fall for a free throw.
During the halftime show, students competed in a game of musical chairs for a $50 dollar gift card, and Toxic performed.
In the third quarter the students gained a slight lead but the faculty ultimately came back to a score of 34, faculty and 32, students. During the third period, students were again asked trivia questions, this time about who Brandeis was almost named after. The answer was Albert Einstein.
During the third period break, Roland Blainding ’21 competed and won $500 as he made a layup, free throw, three pointer and half court shot in under a minute. He was received by the audience with cheers and shock from the emcees.
The last period was neck-in-neck, with the score tied at 37-all at the three-minute mark. The emcees asked a final trivia question, about what item Leo Gerstenzang, whom the Science Library is named after, invented Q-tips.
With one minute left on the clock, the students had a two point lead. In a final two-pointer, the faculty tied the game 39 all, and it went into three-minute overtime. Students got the tip off, but Adams made the first shot with a layup. The faculty ultimately triumphed with a final score of 48-faculty to 46-students.
