“Is this my girl?” Jenifer Marr asks, glancing at the nervous-looking Northwestern student standing nearby.
An event staffer nods and Marr looks at the sheet of paper she’s just been handed. It’s time to play “Are You Smarter Than A Wildcat?”
The topic: elements on the periodic table. Tonight’s opponent: Vic Law.
It’s safe to say that Marr has one of the more unique roles of anyone in the Northwestern Athletic Department. Her official job title is Men’s Basketball Administrative Assistant, but that doesn’t quite cover all of her responsibilities both on and off the court.
“I run the office, do all of their travel planning, help with our booster club and do all of the expense reports,” Marr said. “As they like to say, I keep them in line.”
But on game nights, she does what most Northwestern students probably know her best for: hosting the in-game promotions during men’s basketball games.
Whether it’s a trivia contest, half-court shot or a game of tic-tac-toe, Marr hosts it all. When the words “Take it away, Jen” boom through the Welsh-Ryan Arena PA system and her face appears on the big screen, it's time for Marr to go to work.
On this night, she is waiting for the first promotion of the game, which will take place with around four minutes left in the first half. After a fan is randomly selected to participate in a trivia contest, Marr introduces herself and explains the rules.
She won’t reveal the topic until about 30 seconds before the contest, in order to keep things fair. She tells contestants who are stumped to listen for answers being shouted by the crowd, and instructs them to never look at the video screen, which is almost guaranteed to make the contestant freeze up.
Marr, also a Northwestern graduate, works as a radio DJ on a local rock station during the weekends, and said she has always been comfortable with a microphone in her hand. But college basketball fans and Northwestern students aren’t always as prepared to be on camera in front of thousands of people, which is why Marr coaches them beforehand.
Marr said she had no idea that Northwestern knew about her broadcast work when they asked her to handle promotional duties.
“I didn’t know that they were aware of what I did on the weekends,” Marr said. “But I worked it out with my radio station and I was able to do both. I just kind of work the radio around the promotions that I have to do.”
On this night, the contestant is actually able to nail an impressive number of elements before the pre-taped video of Law appears on the screen. The ‘Cats power forward starts off fast, even dropping a “Californium” in there, before freezing. With no crowd to help him, Law storms away in mock frustration.
The contestant wins.
After this contest, Marr’s work is done for the first half. She now heads to the other side of Welsh-Ryan Arena, where two of her sons, both in elementary school, have been watching the game.
“We sit in a section where they’ve got friends there and I’ve got co-workers who are there, so it’s like this big family. And every time I look up…they’re on the big screen anyway so I know what they’re doing,” Marr said.
Marr’s kids break down the first half with their mom and recall how many times they each got on the video screen. Then they head to Northwestern’s practice court to play basketball on the same floor as their heroes.
Once the second half starts, Marr’s job really gets tricky. This next promotion, the half-court shot, could come at any time in the second half. Marr will get only a few seconds notice before she must head out on the court.
She waits in the tunnel behind the Michigan bench, as an event staffer preps her next contestant. The cards that will be used in this contest are handed to cheerleaders. Willie the Wildcat hides beneath the stands and grabs a much-needed drink of water.
Then suddenly, Marr gets a signal and heads onto the court. The PA system booms…
“Take it away, Jen.”