A third Hoya this year had the chance to bring their knowledge from the cubicles of Lauinger Library to the “Jeopardy!” stage in an episode that aired March 15.
Gwen Lockman (COL ’16) finished third, taking home $1,000, despite a strong showing headed into the final round. Lockman joins the ranks of numerous Georgetown University community members who have appeared on the show, most recently including Patrick Curran (COL ’14, GRD ’19) and Caleb Richmond (SFS ’25). Lockman is an avid trivia player who majored in American studies at Georgetown and is currently pursuing a doctorate at the University of Texas at Austin — an academic background she said prepared her well for the wide array of categories she faced as a contestant.
Lockman said she initially looked into competing on the show when she was in high school, but only took the qualifying test after completing her undergraduate degree at Georgetown in 2016.
Though she was not selected to compete based on her initial test, she took it again in 2022 after playing recreational trivia and was chosen to participate in two further rounds of testing and auditions.
Before taking the test her second time, Lockman said she spent six months in Butte, Mont., where she played on two teams that competed in trivia nights at local bars and restaurants.
“Both teams did really well and I decided to try taking the test again after someone we played against urged our team to give it a shot,” Lockman wrote to The Hoya.
After hearing that she was selected, Lockman only had about a month to prepare for the wide array of trivia categories she faced on the show.
“Once I found out I was going on, I mostly did what I always do: watched the show, did crossword puzzles every day, and kept up on the news and pop culture,” Lockman wrote. “I didn’t want to psych myself out, though, and figured what I’d always done had gotten me far enough to get on the show.”
According to Lockman, trivia skills from her undergraduate tenure and doctoral work at UT Austin proved valuable.
“I’d say my focus on entertainment, leisure, and pop culture came in handy, through classes like Music and Dance in America 1938-1968, TV in American Society, Rock History, Baseball in American Society, and American Photography,” Lockman wrote. “But I also definitely learned a lot through the broad core in liberal arts and my minor in government.”
Lockman said having some performance experience helped her remain confident while filming.
“It was a ton of fun! I wasn’t really stressed when I was there,” Lockman wrote. “The crew and staff do everything to make sure contestants are having fun. It was cool to meet the other contestants and chat about our different backgrounds. I loved getting to see how TV is actually made.”
Lockman’s mother, Jamie Ryan Lockman, hosted a watch party for her daughter and attended the live taping of her daughter’s episode, recalling memories of their family bonding over the show.
“We often watched ‘Jeopardy!’ after dinner when Gwen was growing up,” Jamie Lockman wrote to The Hoya. “On long road trips (common in Montana!) we would pull the Trivial Pursuit questions to make the trip more fun.”
Richmond, who competed on the show last month, said he values being a member of the Georgetown Jeopardy network.
“It’s been amazing to see so many Hoyas competing on Jeopardy in the past few months,” Richmond wrote to The Hoya. “Everyone at Georgetown is here because they have this intense desire to learn more about the world we live in, and while that can be accomplished in infinite ways, it seems to often coincide with developing a knowledge base that’s useful on the Jeopardy stage.”
Jamie Lockman said she will think back fondly of her daughter’s time on the game show.
“I was very proud of her; she played a competitive game with poise and confidence,” Jamie Lockman wrote. “It will go down in our family history as a remarkable and fun memory!”
