Each year, pageants occur such as Miss America and Miss Universe, but none is quite the same as the annual Mr. Colgate competition, which took place on Thursday, November 8 in the Hall of Presidents. Sponsored by the Panhellenic Association, Mr. Colgate presents the opportunity for male students to demonstrate their talents and phy-sique – and the opportunity for the rest of the campus to watch the antics and support their favorite candidate.

Besides providing a night of entertainment, the students involved helped raise funds for the Hamilton Food Cupboard and financial awards for sorority women through ticket sales. Representing an array of organiza-tions, these men started the evening in the swimsuit competition, while the judges – Panhellenic Affairs Vice President for Gamma Phi Beta junior Caitie Barrett, President of Kappa Kappa Gamma senior Morgan Roth, President of Delta Delta Delta senior Sarah Jursik, President of the Pan-hellenic Association senior Katie Rapp and the honorary judge and Jug bouncer, Michelle Koen – scored their outfits and walks.

While several contestants chose unique swimming trunks and others such as Mr. Sigma Chi, sophomore Keshav Garg, employed a bathrobe to create a more dramatic presentation, Mr. Outdoor Education, senior Joe Coplan, stood out early on by wearing his outdoor gear in addition to his bathing suit. As the students paraded to music of their choice, the hosts, seniors Max Brody and Hana Takada, shared facts about the men’s interests. For example, Mr. Beta Theta Pi, sophomore Tate Daugherty, listed Draco Malfoy as both his celebrity lookalike and celebrity crush.

The talent portion followed, allowing each participant the chance to shine and illustrate to the crowd why he should win the coveted title of Mr. Colgate. Daugherty reenacted a musical scene from the film “Stepbroth-ers,” and then Garg honored Michael Jackson by singing and dancing to the Jackson 5’s “I Want You Back.” Mr. Theta Chi, sophomore Connor Clinton, then performed a traditional Hawaiian hula to his friend’s rendi-tion of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Reminding the audience again of his outdoor education skills, Coplan presented a lesson in bear safety, stat-ing that he wished to give back to the community and he felt this was the best way to do so, especially as “bear attacks are the second leading cause of death on campus, after all other causes of death.”

Senior Rob Hendrickson, representing Link Staff, played the clari-net to the Josh Groban classic “You Raise Me Up,” and then elevated his performance, literally, by singing while on the shoulders of junior Nolan Cirillo-Penn, who joined him onstage for the song’s finale. Other musical performances included Mr. Rugby, first-year Ben Campbell, who improvised on the saxophone, Mr. Phi Delta Theta, sophomore Zach Palleschi-King, who did a tribute to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and the Brothers candidate, senior Corin Kinkhabwala, who sang and played the piano to Elton John’s “Your Song.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Blue Diamond Society, first-year Adam Basciano, illustrated his unique ability at the game Connect Four, saying he knew he was special ever since he discovered this skill in second grade, and Mr. Phi Kappa Tau, sophomore Sebastian Sagramoso, evoked images of rhythmic gymnastics with his ribbon-twirling routine.

The final round consisted of evening wear and the ever-important ques-tion element of the show. Questions ranged in difficulty from “Would you rather be a crab or a lobster?” – Garg chose crab – to “Do you have a soul?” which Takada posed to one candidate. The hosts challenged the contestants’ ability to think on their feet, or recall awkward moments, such as when they asked Coplan to relate the tale of his first kiss.

“It wasn’t magical,” Coplan admitted, to open the story.

Once all the students had their time on stage, the judges deliber-ated and, based on their scores, Brody and Takada announced that Mr. Outdoor Education Coplan had won the crown as this year’s Mr. Colgate, with Garg as the first runner-up and Sagramoso as the second runner-up.

Contact Bridget Sheppard at [email protected].