Great job, gumshoes!

This October, 75 students in 24 teams competed in the Library's first-ever Murder Mystery Challenge. The mystery—based on a real-life murder case from 1920s New York—led first-year students through different kinds of library research, including consulting historical resources, finding articles in databases, and hunting down books in the stacks.

The Peer Mentors from the Student Academic Success Programs office were skillful guides, introducing student teams to the Library and offering tips and tricks they picked up doing their college-level research at John Jay.

Three top teams were chosen based on accuracy and speed. The first-place team also correctly answered two challenging bonus questions. Our prize-winning teams:

First place: Team 8, pictured above and led by Peer Mentor Brittany Lahey: Opeyemi Ladunni, Kay-Lee Ebanks, Kirsten Zarski, and Katie Valentin. This team scored a catered lunch in the Faculty Dining Room, in addition to New York Times tote bags full of swag and $20 Amazon gift cards. You go, ladies!

Second place: Team 24, led by Zomorah Kennedy: Fayrouz Saleh and Justine Martinez. These students won dining hall coupons, as well as New York Times backpacks and travel mugs. Nice job!

Third place: Team 18, led by Patrick Grimes: Adil Zaman, Jaylise Cosme, Adonis Munoz, Ashley Lall, and Daniela Sosa. This team won $10 Barnes & Noble cards and New York Times backpacks full of goodies. Good work!

And a hearty congratulations to the other competing teams, too! We're always happy to see you in the Library.

Stay tuned for the next Library challenge...