BY HAILEY CHAPMAN
Delta Zeta hosted its annual male beauty pageant “Big Man on Campus” Tuesday night in Beach Schmidt. The competition consisted of three categories; introduction and formal wear, talent, and safari wear to match their theme “King of the Jungle”. The event was held to raise awareness for Delta Zeta’s philanthropy, the Starkey Hearing Foundation.
In the first category, each of the nine contestants was introduced including Nathaniel Hunt, Ken Walters, Erian Saucedo-Rodarte, Caden Frank, Tanner Regier, Jon Beck, Kaleb King, Graham Dixon, and Chris Crawford.
In the talent portion, Nathaniel Hunt kicked things off by showing off his skills on the saxophone. Following Hunt, Ken Walters performed a comedic routine where he reenacted famous movie scenes while being accompanied by a rubber chicken. Erian Saucedo-Rodarte kept things rolling by performing a comedic magician act where he turned a rubber glove into different shapes, made a trash can lid levitate, and turned an ordinary ball into a sphere of glitter.
To match the night’s theme, Caden Frank impersonated different jungle animals. Continuing the comedic theme, Tanner Regier gave the crowd and MC’s a laugh with what he described as “dad jokes”. Next up to the stage was Jon Beck who performed slam poetry that emphasized jungle themes while keeping the crowd laughing.
Kaleb King graced the stage with his rendition of “Since U Been Gone”, humorously stumbling through verses as he danced through the crowd. Graham Dixon put on a five minute non-stop dance with songs throughout the decades.
Wrapping up the talent show was Chris Crawford, who sat on stage while his fellow brother shaved his head. Throughout the audience along with one of the MC’s, many were sporting the same shaved heads. The Fort Hays chapter of Sigma Chi used a portion of this year’s pageant to help raise awareness for their philanthropy, the Huntsman Cancer Foundation.
As the fraternity receives donations, each member will shave their head after reaching a certain dollar amount. Friday in the quad, they are hosting an auction where Bryson Homman will put his locks up for auction where the highest bidder will be able to shave his head.
Moving into the safari wear, each contestant strutted their stuff in their best jungle apparel. It was Frank who stole the show wearing a pair of swimming trunks adorned with yellow flowers accompanied by a large staff decorated with leaves and flowers. Overwhelmingly, Frank won the audience vote for best dressed.
At the end of the night, Kaleb King came out victorious after sporting a colorful suit and leaping across the stage in his introduction. His personality showed in his heartfelt performance of “Since U Been Gone” and his university pride in safari wear helped push him past the competition. In second place, Caden Frank graciously accepted his award still decked out in his safari gear and in third place, Erian Saucedo-Rodarte wore a huge smile after sharing his magical talents.