Eight young men traveled back to 2011 in hopes of becoming the
next Mr. SUAB aided by the crazy scientist, Demar Rankin.
Eight young men
traveled back to 2011 in hopes of becoming the next Mr. SUAB aided
by the crazy scientist, Demar Rankin.
The annual
competition was held outside the Memorial Student Union on Sept.
27th at 7 p.m. Students gathered around
with anticipation to see the eight contestants: Darrel E. Anderson,
Jeffrey Sibert, Anthony Fitzhugh, Cameron Moore, Thaddieus Monroe,
Timothy Exum, Malik J. McKinnon, and Patrick Mills. The competition
began with a Back to the Future car “DeLorean” bringing in the
night’s host, Demar Rankin, an A&T alumnus. These eight
contestants were on a mission to find the true meaning of Aggie
Pride, but only one would be allowed to come back to the
future.
The contestants
brought in the show with a choreographic routine to “Candy Rain” by
Soul For Real showing that their love will bring them closer to
being the next Mr. SUAB. Each candidate introduced himself to the
audience using a quote or scripture explaining why he deserves this
title.
Aggie chant was the
first category. Contestants had to put their creativity to use as
they came up with raps, songs, and chants about aggie
life. Many of the contestants made comments about
financial aid in Dowdy, refund checks, and cafeteria food. Some
contestants even remixed popular songs such as Big Sean’s “Marvin
Gaye and Chardonnay.” One of the crowd’s favorites from this
category was contestant number five showing how he chants his “Blue
and Gold Everyday” with a little DC style. Who is contestant
#5?
Talent is a
category that can make or break contestants. Contestant number six,
Timothy Exum, impressed the crowd with a brief slide show of the
work that still needs to be done in America as he sang “Imagine” by
John Lennon.
Before the final
category, audience members had the opportunity to showcase their
best cat daddy and dutty wine dances in hopes of winning homecoming
concert tickets for GHOE. DJ Red October kept the audience out of
their seats by playing the latest songs throughout the production.
It literally started to become a party.
As the crowd calmed
down, each contestant came out for the last category, question and
answer. The questions were very random and topics included
challenges in the African American community, the role of today’s
women, dropout rates, completing tasks in a small span of time,
becoming a man, beauty versus intelligence, the contestants’
biggest disappointment in life, and their inspiration. These
questions allowed the audience to know the contestants’
personalities and their views on many issues that are relevant
today.
While the judges
tallied up the votes Jason Cameron, the 2010-2011 Mr. SUAB, made
his final remarks. His wise words to the next Mr. SUAB were, “serve
until you cannot serve anymore.” Cameron used examples like Troy
Davis to show there is still work to be done in 2011.
The anticipation
increased as Rankin announced the next Mr. SUAB. The 2nd
runner up was Malik J. McKinnon, 1st runner up was
Timothy Exum, and the 2011-2012 Mr. SUAB is Thaddieus Monroe.
Monroe, a freshman
criminal justice student, stated, “I was very surprised that I won
because we had so much competition between the eight of us. This
competition made me nervous but at the end, my mentor helped calm
me down and gave me the confidence that I needed to win.”
Kawanna Foster, the
2011-2012 SUAB president, said, “this competition was something
different. I wanted to wow everyone and make a production out of it
this year. Despite the technical difficulties in the beginning of
the show, it ran very well and some of the things that were done
for the show would never be able to be done if inside.” The show
brought a great audience because it was outside. Many of the
students in attendance were either coming out of class or walking
by not even knowing that a pageant was taking place.
Although some
students liked the production being outside others thought it
should have been inside. Natalia Bygrave, a sophomore psychology
major, stated, “The pageant was really nice, but it should have
been inside. A lot of people were getting eaten up
[by bugs] and a lot of people had to stand up because there were
not enough seats.” This was Bygrave’s first time
attending a Mr. SUAB competition and she came to support two of her
friends who were competing.
Tijera Roberson,
sophomore journalism mass communications major, said, “I thought
the contestants did great. SUAB did a wonderful job with the theme
of the production. DJ Red October held it down as usual. The crowd
was live! Contestant number 5 was the most creative and if we were
voting, he would get my vote.”
SUAB not only
thought outside the box with this year’s pageant but also actually
made a production that everyone could enjoy.
- Jenelle McMillion and Cheri Farrior, Register Staff
