Trivia is in the air: Steeped in tradition, Lawrence’s student-run contest rolls into its 60th year

The Great Midwest Trivia Contest, one of Lawrence University’s most endearing and enduring traditions, returns during the final weekend of January.

The student-run contest is marking its 60th edition, led by trivia head master Lawrence Schreiner, a senior music education and music performance (tuba) major from Rib Lake, Wisconsin, and his team of trivia masters (TMs). They will guide the adrenaline-fueled trivia blitz Jan. 24-26—a 50-hour scavenger hunt of obscure information that has been a thing on campus every year since 1966. Open to teams on and off campus, it will again begin at 37 seconds past 10 p.m. Friday, the oddly specific starting time being among the contest’s many traditions.

“I had a new professor tell me last year that he knew nothing about the trivia contest here, but there came a point early in Winter Term where trivia was just in the air,” Schreiner said. “It's become such an intergenerational unifier for Lawrentians. One of the easiest ways to start up a conversation with a Lawrentian who’s graduated since 1966 is to swap trivia stories, and I’m really happy to have a hand in continuing this tradition.”

Trivia weekend annually draws between 500 and 800 players spread across roughly 80 off-campus teams and another 15 or so on-campus teams. Teams will need to register at 8 p.m. on the first night of the contest. Find all the details you need here.

As is tradition, the asking of last year’s Super Garuda—the final question of the previous year’s contest—will open the trivia marathon, with this year’s Super Garuda then closing the contest 50 hours later at midnight Sunday. In all, there will be more than 300 questions.

The contest in recent years has moved to Twitch as technology has retooled the weekend. While the students who run the show have held tight to many traditions, each new team of trivia masters has moved the contest forward. This year, that includes adding some visual elements on Twitch—most notably, photo questions that will pair an image displayed on the Twitch stream with a question.

“The hope is to have a greater variety of questions that allow the TMs to use even more unique paths to and through obscure internet wackiness while mixing things up for players,” Schreiner said

Like many of the trivia head masters who came before him, Schreiner was drawn into the world of trivia masters by previous TMs. The bonds forged between students, alumni, and longtime community players are embraced and nurtured by every new group of trivia masters. 

“Some of the things I find myself thinking about most commonly in the trivia off-season are the hilarious team names, the super creative action question submissions, and the genuine kindness of the trivia community,” Schreiner said. “I feel like our contest is deeply infused with community, support, empathy, and understanding that isn't so evident in a lot of other places. Seeing teams reaching out to support the TMs themselves and not just the contest as an event is so beautiful. There is just such a personal nature to it. It’s incredible what can spring up out of a desire for communal fun and silliness.”

Players from generations past have embraced the changes through the years, including the move from a radio station format to streaming via Twitch, first introduced in the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We're really on the cutting edge of what a trivia contest can look like,” Schreiner said. “The TMs are always on the lookout for new ways to innovate, and our trivia community is so supportive in giving us space to try out everything we could imagine. Being part of a living tradition that is constantly growing and morphing like this is really an honor, and I'm excited to see what future TMs and HMs do with it after my time as head master.”