With the passing of “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek on November 7, 2020, University of Delaware alumna Patricia Greiner, AS75, reflected on her experience as a contestant. Greiner, who earned a bachelor’s degree in English at UD, won the first round of “Jeopardy!” with—you guessed it—a literary question. She admitted she didn’t know the answer to “a 1908 novel that begins and ends in a hotel room in an Italian city,” but she made an educated guess based on who she knew was publishing at that time in Britain. (The answer: “What is, ‘A Room with a View?’”)

Here, she shares her journey to being on the show and seeing Trebek in action—an experience she’ll never forget.

Jeopardy! was on my bucket list for a long time but traveling to Los Angeles for the sole purpose of auditioning didn't seem likely. When the show introduced online auditions, I was delighted, and getting the call that I'd been selected for the show (after 10 years of online tryouts, twice making it to the in-person audition rounds) was such a dream come true, at first I thought it might be a friend pranking me. But my husband, Ron Richard, who had been my biggest cheerleader in that effort, was in the process of being placed on the list to receive a lung transplant. After checking with his doctors, who said he likely wouldn't be listed on the date I was to compete, we went ahead and made the trip to LA.

The experience was everything I could have hoped for—my fellow competitors were smart (as you'd expect), kind, funny and personable. The staff made the entire experience a positive one. They even lightened the obligatory info session about taxes and other legalities with plenty of funny stories. And through it all, you could tell that they loved working with Alex and had nothing but admiration and affection for him. During the time they prepped and explained and prepared us for the taping, he was a sort of unseen eminence in the background—meeting him would be the final element that really made it official:  you were on Jeopardy!

I was lucky enough to win my first game, but that was the last one they taped before going on Christmas break. Between holidays and a college tournament taping, I wasn't scheduled to come back and play my second game until five weeks later. During that time, Ron was listed for a transplant, got the call that a lung was available, and received that gift of life on January 11, 2017—not quite two weeks before I was supposed to return. 

By the time I was scheduled to return to LA, Ron had been released from the hospital and was doing very well, and my best friend cleared her schedule to come and stay with him for the three days I would be gone. Although I didn't win my second game, that round was as much fun as the first.

Contestants—at least at my level -- didn't get to spend time with Alex other than what you see on the finished show. He was very nice, but VERY busy. During commercial breaks he did interviews for other TV shows, conferred with the production staff and took questions from the studio audience. But no matter how many demands were made of him, he was never impatient or annoyed. He moved smoothly from one task to the next and was unfailingly polite and professional.

Alex was skilled at finding a fact or element in each contestant's story that let him make a quick personal connection or find a way to kid around with them. In my case, it was a shared experience, as we had both had the opportunity to carry the Olympic torch on its journey (his for the Atlanta summer games, mine for the Salt Lake City winter ones). Even though all he had to go on were some brief notes garnered by his staff, he could turn that into a moment of real connection in a heartbeat.  

The memory of my Jeopardy! experience is permanently interwoven with the worry and the gratitude surrounding my husband's lung transplant, so those weeks will always remain especially vivid for me. I also became more aware of how many people love the show. For almost a year after being on the show, this interaction with strangers was frequent:  "Where do I know you from?"  "Are you a Jeopardy! watcher?"  "That's it!!"

My UD education stood me in good stead for the show, as it has throughout life. That was particularly true of the two Final Jeopardy questions I had. I graduated with a double major in English and Theatre, and my two topics for Final Jeopardy were British Novels and American Authors. In both cases, I was the only contestant to get the Final correct. (Wasn't enough to save me on the second game, but I felt proud of it anyway!) I also think my theatre training helped me to act less nervous than I felt!

I am grateful to have had the chance to play during Alex's tenure. I'm sure they'll find someone good to take over as host, and I will continue to watch and enjoy, but Alex was Jeopardy! to so many of us, and he always will be.

Fun fact: There are seven* known UD alumni who have competed on “Jeopardy!”, five of whom have reigned as winners. One notable winner who surpassed the legendary Ken Jennings as the contestant with the highest one-day jackpot in 2010 is Roger A. Craig Jr., who earned a Master of Science in 2004 and a Doctor of Philosophy in 2010 from UD. Other winners are Kevin A. Boettcher, AS05, Stephanie A. Sumulong, AS10, and Conor E. Murphy, AS20M, in addition to contestants Sarah Ashland Stevens, AS16, and Justin Sausville, BE20M.  
 
*Edit (11.30.20): We discovered there are eight known UD alumni who have competed on “Jeopardy!”—Lynn Babcock Laniewski, ANR78, appeared in five episodes that aired in January 2000 and came within one question of being a five-time champion, which was the limit at the time!