BY CALLY ANDERSON
Laughter and cheers rang out on the walls of the Beach-Schmidt Auditorium on Thursday as Fort Hays State University sorority, Delta Zelta, successfully put on their annual Big Man On Campus (BMOC) philanthropy event.
The contestants came from the fraternities of Alpha Gamma Rho, Sigma Chi, Sigma Alpha Epsilon, and Sigma Phi Epsilon. The competition was hosted by the previous Big Man on Campus, Clade Anderson.
For contestant Jack Morrow, BMOC came with a lot of preparation in hopes of being crowned the winner.
“I prepared by watching karate videos and perfecting my karate punch,” said Morrow, whose talent portion featured karate moves, chopping wood, and hitting fruit in half.
In total, 13 contestants had their eyes on the prize and vied for the prestigious honor of being crowned Big Man On Campus. Throughout the night each contestant competed in formal wear, question and answer, and last, but definitely not least, the crowd-favorite talent portion took place.
Talent acts of deadlifting 405 pounds, opening a pickle jar in one try, science experiments and various lip singing and dancing caught the audience’s attention. Each act not only was showing off to the judges but competed for the crowd favorite.
“My favorite category to compete in was the talent show,” contestant Garrett Folks said. “Seeing everybody’s acts made me laugh. Especially Jack’s from Sigma Chi.”
As each category went on, three judges weighed in their opinion and tentatively watched each contestant strut their stuff. Ultimately the decision of who would be crowned was in the hands of Bob Duffy, Thomas Schafer, and Jacy Buchholz.
While the judges crowned first place to Reed McNett, second place to Nick “Joji” Backman, and third place to Parker Opat, the crowd was able to Venmo money in nomination of the crowd favorite. This year’s crowd favorite was Trevor Fischer.
Overall, this night of pageantry comedy is all in support of one of Delta Zeta’s philanthropy partners. All proceeds raised from this event, $450 dollars, will be supporting the American Society for Deaf Children.
Delta Zeta member Ella Burrows believes this event has been a great way to support this cause.
“We truly have a heart for hearing and speech and it was incredible to see so many people come out to our event to support this philanthropy,” she said.
