Want to show off your mastery of the U.S. Constitution?
Are you the one everyone asks for directions on campus?
Could you use a $50 gift card?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then The Amazing City College U.S. Constitution Race, taking place Wednesday, September 13 between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., may be for you.
The event, inspired by the CBS show “The Amazing Race,” is sponsored by the history and political science departments at City College.
After registering on race day at the Student Affairs office, student teams of 1-3 people will start the race by receiving clues that will take them to 10 campus locations to collect one of the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, also known as the Bill of Rights.
“Teams do not start all at once,” City College professor of history and event organizer Susan Hasegawa said. “They are racing against the clock to get the fastest time once they register.”
With the 10 amendments in hand, teams will race to room MS-465 where they will be given a final task to complete the contest. The teams completing the race with the fastest times will receive $50 gift cards for each member.
Hasegawa offered some tips to participants:
- Be familiar with the 10 amendments that make up the Bill of Rights. According to the National Archives, “It spells out Americans’ rights in relation to their government. It guarantees civil rights and liberties to the individual.”
- “Read all the directions, all riddles before leaving Student Affairs,” she emphasized.
- Teams can be up to three individuals and “you don’t have to stick together. But you have to then end together in M-465,” Hasegawa said.
To make sure each amendment stop has enough rewards, Hawegawa asks classes that may be participating to contact her as soon as possible before the event day at [email protected] or 619-388-3370.
The competition is City College’s annual federally mandated commemoration of Constitution Day and Citizenship Day, which falls on September 17.
In addition to increasing awareness of the U.S. Constitution and improving student engagement with campus student services, an objective for the race is “having fun and celebrating Constitution Day and Citizenship Day,” Hasegawa said.
