While he has been well-known around the St. Norbert campus for his many philosophy courses, Dr. Ben Chan is now recognized across the country and beyond for his appearances on “Jeopardy!” But, with his premiere on “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions” looming, it’s time to take a look back at how Dr. Chan became our favorite campus celebrity.
Last February while watching “Jeopardy!” Dr. Chan began playing along with the test and found himself getting many questions right. During the commercials an ad came on for the Jeopardy! Anytime Test, which is fifteen minutes with fifteen seconds to come up with an answer based off of the given clue. A few weeks after taking this test Dr. Chan was sent an invitation for a follow-up test that was proctored on Zoom. After a few months the philosophy professor began Zoom auditions before joining the show.
“From the moment I really wanted it, it happened as quickly as possible,” Dr. Chan said, reflecting on the beginning of the process. “There’s something right about manifesting, which is that if you don’t really want it and take all the steps that are necessary for something to happen it probably won’t happen.”
Whether it was luck, hard work, manifestation or some combination of the three, Dr. Chan went on to hold a nine-game streak. Unfortunately, it would come to an end with a misspelled word during the Final Jeopardy! round. Thankfully Dr. Chan will be given another chance to continue making St. Norbert and Wisconsin proud on the upcoming “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions.”
Giving away as little as he could about the upcoming show, Dr. Chan shared that “the comradery is at another level.” Enhanced by the fact that many people chatted online, made group chats and have all experienced an exciting year of “Jeopardy!” experiences, the comradery helped fight the ‘jep-purgatory.’ This term, coined by “Jeopardy!” players, is “the gap between when you film and when it shows.” While Dr. Chan couldn’t reveal any spoilers about the upcoming show, he simply said “It’ll be a surprise!”
Dr. Chans’ episode of “Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions” will premiere at 6:00 p.m. March 4, with a watch party taking place in the Campus Center Lounge.
Photo: Jeopardy!