In April 2015, I wrote about a new expansion pack for the ridiculously popular game Cards Against Humanity. The new pack was the brainchild of Zach Weinersmith, who asked me to help come up with some of the funny science-based questions and answers to the party game.
That was an easy decision on my part, but it was made even easier because the CAH folks decided to take all the money—yes, all of it—that was made from the science pack and create a full-ride scholarship for young women attending college for a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) degree. This is a fantastic cause and something that can really help address the imbalance between men and women in STEM.
The call went out for video submissions, and more than 1,000 young women applied. The panel of 60 professional women in STEM went through them, and they have announced a winner: Sona Dadhania, a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania! She wants to study nanotechnology, and she put together this video as her submission:
Nice! She’s a freshman now, so CAH will pay for her tuition for the next three years (a sum of about $150,000). You can read more about her in an article on Philly.com. As for how she reacted to the news, well, see for yourself:
Yes, that may have choked me up just a little. I’m so happy for her, and proud of my friends for what they’ve done here.
But they’re not done here! The pack has so far raised more than $880,000—yes, you read that correctly—to help women get a STEM degree. That means there’s plenty left over for more scholarships, and applications for Round 2 will be opened this fall. Stay tuned.
Congratulations, Sona! Go make the world a better, cooler, and smarter place. And, y’know, just throwing this out there: The science pack is available at the CAH online store. If you already bought one, then thanks. Look what you helped do!
Tip o’ the Erlenmeyer flask to my friend Kim Arcand.
