Univ. of MN Deaf* College Bowl

Help send the University of Minnesota Deaf* College Bowl team to Hartford, CT to attend the National Association of the Deaf Biennial conference. They will compete against other teams including the three original teams: Gallaudet U, RIT/NTID, and CSUN. 

The Deaf College Bowl (CoBo) program began in 1988 at the biennial National Association of the Deaf (NAD) conference with three schools participating: Gallaudet University, Rochester Institute of Technology/National Technical Institute of the Deaf, and California State University Northridge. Then in 2012, the competition expanded to welcome non-traditional schools with sizable numbers of Deaf* students, including University of Texas, Southwest Collegiate Institute of the Deaf, and University of Minnesota.

The University of Minnesota program started taking roots in 2009 and became fully formed in 2012 with sending their first team to the conference in Louisville, KY. That year, the team placed fourth out of six. Unlike the other schools, the U of M team is fully student-led, with four undergraduate players coached by graduate and alumni students; with the assitance of an advising committee from the Disability Resource Center and the Interpreting & Captioning Unit. 

College Bowl is a spirited academic bowl style event that brings together deaf contestants from top colleges and universities serving deaf and hard of hearing students. Teams of four students from each school vie for the coveted trophy and scholarships.The teams are challenged with questions in nine categories; Arts & Literature; History & Politics; Mathematics; Science, Nature, & Technology; Current Events; Deaf Culture; Entertainment; Sports & Leisure; and Geography. 

CoBo isn’t just about brains, but the opportunity for the team to connect with the local community, build up skills in a variety of areas: fundraising and budgeting, scheduling, commitment to practices and conferences, teamworking, develop and build up on networks, and most importantly, to have FUN!

College Bowl players have become lawyers, scientists, teachers and important advocates of the deaf and hard of hearing community. They exemplify what it takes to be an intellectual leader in the community, and the exciting national competition draws over 1,000 audience members at the final match.

The  University of Minnesota CoBo program continues the tradition started by the Miss Deaf Minnesota program by sending MN youth representatives to NAD conferences since 1972 without missing a conference!

Help us continue that tradition by supporting the team.