Program Council presented the first Mr. and Miss Hilltop Pageant on Sunday in the Hughes-Trigg Ballroom and crowned SMU senior Matt Houston as Mr. Hilltop and first-year student Avis Harden as Miss Hilltop.
The audience and judges were treated to talent, question and answer, and formalwear portions of the competition among six SMU students. Unique talent seemed to be a trend in the pageant. Houston played an original trumpet piece called “Morose Disillusionment” while Harden performed “Fleece,” a personal poem.
Harden said, “Sometimes it’s nice to know that you’re not alone in what you’re dealing with and that you don’t have to be perfect. That’s kind of what the poem was for me — way of just speaking up.”
Morgan Matlock, the mistress of ceremony and Miss Texas 2005, also gave a special performance of her vocal talent routine from the Miss America pageant. She shared that she is a lover of the arts and a songwriter and added that perseverance was the key to winning her title.
“I am very impressed by the original [pieces]; you just have to put yourself out there,” Matlock said.
Sarah Jobe, a senior psychology major, and Jamil Beard, a first-year voice major, were named as runner-up Miss and Mr. Hilltop, respectively. Jobe played and sang an original song guitar piece called “Happiness,” while Beard played Kirk Franklin’s piano piece “Hold Me Now.”
Other contestants included Roshel Aghassi, a junior advertising major, who performed Madonna’s “I’ll Remember” and Whitney Patterson, a sophomore CCPA major, who performed a clarinet recital.
During the question-and-answer portion of the pageant, contestants modeled formalwear while answering questions, which sought to reveal poise, thoughtfulness and intellect. The questions asked everything from “What is your idea of the perfect date, and with whom?” to “Do you think the government should legislate morality?”
The Performing and Visual Arts Committee of Program Council produced the pageant. Crystal McCullough, the committee chairperson, came up with the idea after talking to a friend at Tennessee State, which has the same type of annual pageant.
Eight contestants, including four girls and four guys, were chosen for the final pageant, but two male contestants did not appear due to illness, McCullough said.
The final six contestants, who are all heavily involved on campus, were officially judged on poise, personality, confidence and talent while the audience was allowed to cast its votes for the winners, which counted as 25 percent of total votes.
The winners will receive a scholarship check in addition to the title and crown. The undetermined amount will come from ticket sales and a portion of the sponsoring committee’s budget, added McCullough, but the humble winners didn’t apply just for the prize money.
Houston said, “I’m ecstatic! This is great but I don’t care [about the money]; I just want to help Program Council out.”
Harden also voiced her care for helping start a new tradition at SMU but also talked about her own personal dream.
“It’s always been a little fantasy of mine to be crowned Miss something or other. I think it’s the little princess mindset my father instilled in me,” she said.
