The red carpet rolled out in front of McFarlin Auditorium for 12 SMU men last Thursday. Mr. University is an annual male pageant hosted by Pi Beta Phi (Pi Phi) sorority.
This year, all proceeds went to Heroes for Children, a non-profit organization that provides care for children with cancer, and Manheim’s Heart to Hearts, a program that helps raise money for the Micahel P. Fisher CICU at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
Pi Phi’s Philanthropy Chair, Allison Chandler, loves putting together this event.
“I think that it’s great because it involves everyone on campus. We have twelve different organizations that participated,” Chandler said. “I think it’s a great way for us to raise money, especially this year, for something that was really close to our pledge sister’s heart since it is her dad’s organizations.”
The 12 contestants included Patrick Probst (Mr. Sigma Phi Epsilon), Gavin Thomson (Mr. Pi Kappa Alpha), Evan Kasper (Mr. Beta Theta Pi), Ricky Townsend (Mr. Chi Omega), Juan Castillo (Mr. Sigma Lambda Beta), William Crouse (Mr. Kappa Alpha Theta), Corbin Swagerty (Mr. Gamma Phi Beta), Andrew Pinkowitz (Mr. Kappa Kappa Gamma), Brian Rose (Mr. Delta Delta Delta), Kyle Padron (Mr. Delta Gamma), Gerald Fawcett (Mr. Phi Gamma Delta) and Austin Smith (Mr. Sigma Alpha Epsilon).
The show consisted of four main parts. The first was the sportswear portion, where each participant was introduced to the audience with a description of his perfect date, an interesting fact and his favorite pick- up line.
The talent segment followed in which each candidate showcased his talent. Gerald Fawcett, the winner of Mr. University 2010, showed his skills through a remix of the theme song from “The Fresh Prince of Bellaire.”
During the Q&A session, the 12 men show off their formal wear while answering questions from “Why do you want to be Mr. University?” to “What is one quality you cannot tolerate in a woman?” which made them to think on the spot.
The final part of the show was a choreographed dance that all the candidates performed together.
Following their dance, there were guest performances by Sam Mansfield, Mr. University 2009, and Nick Cains, Mr. Congeniality 2009.
Although Fawcett snagged the winning title, others won titles as well. The runner up was Rickey Townsend, and Mr. Congeniality went to Austin Smith. Also, Beta Theta Pi was recognized for raising the most money for Pi Phi’s causes.
Pi Phi’s next philanthropy event, “Be and Angel,” will be Dec. 2 at 5 p.m. in the Atriums in Hughes-Trigg Student Center.
