On September 2, 2026, the African Students Association organized African Trivia Night at Northwestern University in Qatar, bringing together students, faculty and staff from NU-Q and other Education City universities for the group’s first event of the semester.
Students clustered around tables, leaning toward their teammates as they debated answers and tried to stay ahead of the other groups. The room grew increasingly competitive as each team tested how much they knew about Africa, while visitors from across Education City got a glimpse into a campus community some felt they had been missing.
Organized by the African Students Association, African Trivia Night took place from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the Forum at Northwestern University in Qatar and was the group’s first event of the semester. Attendees were divided into teams and competed to answer questions about Africa, with the team with the most correct answers winning.
Among those visiting NU-Q for this event was Ilyes Rekhis, a fourth-year student at Georgetown University in Qatar (GU-Q). “It was such a pleasure today to come to NU-Q. Everybody is so welcoming,” Rekhis said. “Honestly, I’ve been missing out, like genuinely, on the community in NU-Q.”
His presence reflected a wider turnout from across Education City (EC). Students from other universities joined NU-Q students, faculty and staff, allowing people who do not regularly share the same campus to interact beyond their own university communities.
African Students Association President Shalom Mosonda, NU-Q’29, had been preparing for the association’s first event since May. “The turnout was way more than I thought,” Mosonda said. “The trivia night was so great because everyone was so competitive, which I didn’t expect.”
It was also Mosonda’s first time planning an event as president, requiring months of coordination before attendees entered the room. “All these tiny, tiny details, months of work for one night, literally two hours, was a process,” she said.
Mosonda credited other members of the association for helping her through the planning. “I love the people in my team,” she said. “They’re all very cooperative. They are active. They’re proactive.” Looking back at the experience, she added, “It was such a process. But it was fun, and I would do it again.”
Faculty members also joined students in the competition. Leila Tayeb, assistant professor in residence in the Liberal Arts Program at NU-Q, was in attendance and said the questions could be more challenging. “The game was so fun, but the questions were too easy,” Tayeb said. “I hope that next time they’re going to make the questions harder, and then we’ll do it again.”
After the competition, attendees stayed to eat and socialize while African music played. Food served included falafel, boerewors, chapati and sambusa, The event was coordinated with the Africana Studies minor committee, whose faculty used the occasion to introduce the program’s curriculum. First introduced as a joint program with Georgetown University in Qatar in 2021, the minor trains students on contemporary Africa and the African diaspora. Outside the classroom, cultural events like the African Trivia Night gave prospective students a glimpse of topics they could explore further through the Africana Studies minor.
Dahlia El Zein, assistant professor in residence in the Liberal Arts Program at NU-Q and the committee chairperson of the Africana Studies minor, used the evening to encourage students to learn more about the minor. “The event was wonderful,” El Zein said. “Everybody should do the Africana Studies minor here at NU-Q.”
For El Zein, however, the value of events like African Trivia Night extended beyond NU-Q. They also created opportunities for students to build relationships with people they may not otherwise meet on campus. “I really hope that more students will come out to these kinds of events because it really creates community,” she said.
