Delphian Name Heard in Homes Across the Country

by Dessi Kirilova

In the elevator at work, Todd Kunkel was telling a colleague of his what he had seen on TV the night before. "It was, like, the fifth answer in the category "Universities That Start with 'A'." You had to guess the name of a New York school whose campus newspaper is called "The Delphian"," he explained.

Kunkel, Manager of Web Development at Adelphi University, had been watching "Jeopardy!" - the 17-year-old quiz game that reaches 32 million of viewers in the USA every weeknight of the year. A question in one of their Double Jeopardy categories on the night of January 22 included a rare mention of our school's name on national television. According to the campus-wide e-mail that went around the next day from the Office of Student Affairs, it was the question worth $1000 in its category.

A Jeopardy question writer had contacted Adelphi's News and Publications office a few months ago to ask for the name of our paper. Former Kerri Braun, who answered, requested that the program contact her office again when an Adelphi-related question is scheduled to air. And the day before it did, the Jeopardy staff indeed they did not forget their promise to alert Braun.Vince Passaro, Director of University Relations, was unable to find a reason for Adelphi being chosen as an answer: "They probably found it in a book," he said.

"Did the contestant get it right?" is what Kunkel's elevator companion wanted to know the next day. Yes, in fact he did. Kunkel thought it was an easy guess - campus newspapers usually have very similar names to their respective schools' names, and the condition that the name had to start with "A" provided the missing clue.

Many students' parents -- and more parents seemed to have watched the show than students -- thought the same, even if they didn't know the exact name. Student Shana Brierley's mom, for example, let her daughter know over the phone that her school was mentioned on TV.

Most students had heard about the question, but very few actually the show themselves. Nevertheless, all found it interesting and exciting. Alumna Chloë Heiniemi said, "Wow! I am impressed. We are a Jeopardy question now!"