Who’s the fairest of them all?
This was the question asked by many University of Wyoming students Saturday night.
When the blue carpet rolled out, several eligible bachelors came ready to strut their stuff for charity.
Kappa Kappa Gamma, a sorority on campus, hosts Mr. Wyoming every year to benefit the Albany County Red Cross.
In the mock beauty pageant, UW men competing for the coveted title participate in events similar to Miss America pageants in order to claim the title of Mr. Wyoming.
After a competition consisting of dance numbers, sports wear, talents, formal wear and question-and-answer portion, Sean Mcquade was crowned Mr. Wyoming.
With many secondary titles up for grabs, each participant was determined to be successful.
Garrid Halsey, a Secondary Education major with a concurrent in Chemistry with a painting minor and ESL certification, walked away with the title of Mr. Congeniality.
“I got a fuzzy top hat and sash,” Halsey said. “It means people like my personality, which is definitely a confidence boost. Part of it is you have to be humble about it because it goes with the title.”
Halsey competed in all the events but personally found the talent, Q& A and formal portions to be most enjoyable.
This show wasn’t just for fun for Halsey. He brought a piece of himself in every act through the night.
“I liked the talent portion because I got to involve my personality and formal wear I got to wear a bow-tie and a pocket watch given to me by my parents,” Halsey said.
“For Q&A they asked me who was most influential and I chose my mom because she is a nurse practitioner at the cancer center in Laramie. She handles her job with grace and poise even though it involves both tragedy and overwhelming happiness.”
From Toddlers and Tiaras to Kim of Queens, beauty pageants are the norm in today’s society. With prim and proper at the highest of priorities, contestants are expected to be as “perfect” as humanly possible.
This is part of the reason why mock pageants are popular today – to poke fun at the extreme.
Maddie Deustch, a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma and a Speech Pathology major, was eager to put on this event. Deustch contributed to the set up, planning, and execution of the event along with her fellow sisters. For her, the most rewarding part of the process was when the show came to life on stage.
“Of course I thought it [the show] was hilarious,” Deutsch said. “I know a lot of the guys because they are in Greek life and just seeing them up on stage is awesome because honestly, most of them don’t need to even act!”
Over $2 thousand was donated to the Red Cross foundation from ticket sales and donations in a night dedicated to a good cause. “I wanted to represent not only my fraternity but my student body in a positive way,” Halsey said. “Plus it was for a good cause.”
