Ruth Brown

Lip-syncing, school spirit and some of the college’s finest gentlemen can be found at the 11th annual Mr. SDSU pageant. All proceeds from the event will go to the charity of Mr. SDSU’s choice.

“The pageant should have a really high entertainment value,” said Rich Herian, an adviser for the Residential Hall Association, which helps organize the event. “The contestants really win over the audience and try and get that money for their charity.”

The Mr. SDSU pageant has five different categories that contestants will participate in. The contestants first go through a pre-interview.

“Our rule of thumb was that we accept the first 10 contestants that sign up,” said Kristie Vice, the programming communications coordinator for RHA. “We have had eight sign up so far, and they will all do their pre-interview part of the competition.”

Each contestant represents a different student organization or student group on campus. Examples in the past have included contestants who represent Greek Life fraternities, residence halls, the University Program Council or different clubs.

“Last year’s winner was Nolan Hayes, who represented Delta Chi,” said Vice, a senior mechanical engineering major. “Nolan’s charity was the V Foundation for Cancer Research, which received about $600.”

Vice said other charities that have been donated to include United Way in Brookings, American Cancer Society, Boys and Girls Club of America, Chinese Children Adoption International, Educate Africa and the United Methodist Church.

“It really is for a good cause,” said Sean Miller, the communications executive for RHA and a freshman pre-nursing student. “All the money we raise from ticket sales will go to charity.”

Other categories of the pageant include a formal wear section and the stage question portion of the competition in which judges will ask each contestant a question and judge them by their response.

“The questions we ask are not quite as serious as the ones that they ask at the girls’ pageants, but they are legitimate questions,” said Vice. “Each contestant just needs to answer to the best of their knowledge.”

The talent portion of the pageant includes a lip-syncing competition amongst contestants.

“Last year one contestant dressed in a banana suit and sang the ‘Peanut Butter and Jelly Song’ from YouTube while throwing sandwiches into the audience,” said Vice.

The final portion of the pageant is called “SDSU Spirit” in which each contestant shows their school spirit to the crowd.

“It’s a really great way for people to show their school pride and how much they really do have a passion for SDSU,” said Hayes, who graduated from SDSU in 2008.

The RHA is funding the pageant with $2,000 from their budget. Any additional money the RHA has left over will be donated back to the charity.

“RHA hopes to give between $200 and $400, depending on what we have,” said Vice.

“They should have a really great show this year,” said Hayes. “I encourage people to go and to keep in mind that the prize money the winner gets will go back to the winner’s charity.”

Mr. SDSU will take place on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in the PAC. Admission is $3 for SDSU students.