When California realtor Nancy Zerg recently brought the era of Ken Jennings' Jeopardy domination to an end, Dartmouth students saw one of their own, David Hankins '05, competing against the longest-running champion in game show history.
Hankins, a history major, finished third to Jennings' second. Zerg was victorious, but lost the next day to 1992 Dartmouth graduate Dr. Peter DeBalli.
"It was a little jarring seeing Ken Jennings walk in," Hankins said. Prior to his appearance on the show, Hankins had watched Jennings reign as Jeopardy champion for 74 shows and win a total of more than $2 million.
Hankins was president of Dartmouth's College Bowl team from 2002 to 2004, which he thought would be a helpful foundation for Jeopardy. He now serves as Student Assembly's vice president for student life and is also active in the Young Democrats.
It took running a gauntlet of obstacles for Hankins to become a Jeopardy contestant. The senior was just one out of 15 candidates to pass a 50-question preliminary test, but he was not called as a contestant until a month later.
Despite Jennings' reputation, Hankins said he was confident.
"[Jennings] is only human," Hankins said.
Although the Dartmouth senior got off to a good lead after the first category on Seinfeld, he waded into deep waters during Double Jeopardy. The problem was two-fold, Hankins said, with intense competition over who would answer the questions and a lack of questions in his areas of expertise.
"The problem was the buzzer. When all three of us were buzzing in, I just couldn't get in." Further, Hankins reported that the categories were the worst possible ones for him. "It didn't have any history or literature in it."
Hankins' friend Katherine Schuerman '05 -- who was in the audience -- confirmed the show's difficulty.
"He was given some ridiculous categories, like obscure soups and hats," Schuerman said "I guess it's the luck of the draw, but I'm a regular Jeopardy watcher, and I thought his show was harder than many. At the taping that day, the first show was much easier than David's."
Hankins ended up finishing third, with $-2,800.
Jennings lost in Final Jeopardy incorrectly answering the now-infamous clue: "Most of this firm's 70,000 seasonal white-collar employees work only four months a year."
Zerg answered correctly with accounting firm H and R Block, while Jennings stumbled, responding with FedEx.
Although Hankins had been eliminated before the round because of his negative score, he joined the audience in shock of Jennings' defeat.
"The entire audience, including me, gasped audibly when it happened," Hankins said. "I stood up from my chair and started cheering as loudly as I could. It was very exciting."
David Lau '05, who was also in the audience, was struck by the dignity of his friend Hankins upon losing.
"David was a very gracious loser, though. At the end he went up to congratulate and hug Nancy," Lau said.
Hankins said he was upset about his loss but upon reflection brightened and said, "I would do it again. Definitely."
DeBalli, however, won his show. Hankins reveled in DeBalli's victory.
"It was great to meet him and I'm happy someone from Dartmouth won that week," Hankins said.
