Katie Palumbo ‘Jeopardy!’ champ

In the familiar parlance of the TV game show “Jeopardy!,” under the category Wheaton College graduates:

She is a Class of 2013 psychology major who outsmarted and outmaneuvered her competitors to win $23,100 and the label “champion.”

The correct response: Who is Katie Palumbo?

That’s right, Palumbo competed on “Jeopardy!” on January 16, and won first place and a chance to return the following day. She walked away a champion with a one-day total of $23,100.

Palumbo, a museum membership specialist at Mystic Seaport in Connecticut, defeated a blogger and podcaster who was the previous three-day champion, and a teacher.

Tapinto.net wrote about her appearance on the show, as did The Essex Daily Voice.

The Essex Daily Voice writer noted the fact that none of the players provided the correct response during Final Jeopardy, but her strategy secured a win for her: “Her low wager on it kept her in a winning position and she ended the episode as champion.”

During Final Jeopardy, Palumbo kept a poker face as the camera zoomed in after the two other contestants and she missed getting the question right. Once her wager was revealed, a broad smile beamed across her face as she breathed sighs of relief.

“The small wager does it! You’re still the ‘Jeopardy!’ champion, Katie!” host Ken Jennings proclaimed. “You look as surprised as anyone.”

As champion, she returned a second day to compete, but ended up in second place.

After all of the excitement, we asked Palumbo a few questions about how she ended up on “Jeopardy!”

Palumbo is a longtime fan of the show.

“My family watches ‘Jeopardy!’ every night, and my mom suggested that I take the online test because I do tend to know a lot of the answers,” Palumbo said. “After passing that, there were another three rounds of auditions over Zoom before I got the call that I was selected. They get thousands of applicants and can only pick about 500 per season, so they do a lot of random selections of people who pass each stage.”

“The main ‘secret to success’ is watching old episodes of ‘Jeopardy!’ and getting used to the structure of the questions and how they phrase hints,” she said. “They also do repeat facts sometimes, so old games can be a good review. I also read sets of previous ‘Jeopardy!’ questions for the same reason.”

When the show aired, Palumbo watched the episode with her family while texting with friends and co-workers. Afterward a lot of people reached out to congratulate her.

—Sandy Coleman

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Deadlines

Fall: June 6, 2023

Winter: Sept. 26, 2023

Spring: Jan. 16, 2024

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Kate Anzidei

’25

Jane Cumming ’67 Wheaton Fund Scholarship recipient

“I really enjoy being able to play a sport that I am passionate about, field hockey, and being a part of something bigger than myself while pursuing my academic interests as a history of art major. After Wheaton, I hope to attend graduate school and eventually pursue a career as a registrar or curator. I feel honored to have received this scholarship to support my goals.”

Following in their footsteps

Izzi King ’22 among several

alumni choreographing performances for Wheaton College Dance Company

With Queen’s soulful “Somebody to Love” blasting from speakers in the Ellison Dance Studio in Balfour-Hood, eight members of Wheaton College Dance Company worked their way through an energetic contemporary fusion routine—a flow of everchanging configurations and synchronized moves.

At the front of the room that early Saturday morning in January was Izzi King ’22, who choreographed the number, demonstrated poses and provided ongoing encouragement.

“I’ve wanted to choreograph that song since the fall of my senior year at Wheaton. I love the swelling of the music, the dynamics of the vocals and the instrumentals, and the little things you pick up in the music when you listen to it over and over again,” said King, who majored in sociology and