By Katy Beth Boyers
Contributing Writer
On Thursday March 28, students gathered in the Wright Center for Zeta Tau Alpha’s “Mr. Samford” event. The winner of this year’s mock beauty pageant is sophomore, Worship and the Arts major, EJ Castro. The runner-up was sophomore, pre-business major, Jackson McKinney.
Mr. Samford is Zeta Tau Alpha’s spring philanthropy event in which all the money raised from tickets go to Breast Cancer Research and Awareness. Zeta Tau Alpha played a video by the sorority halfway through the show to remind students of why they were all gathered and paid to watch this annual event.
The competition consisted of 13 contestants representing different fraternities and sororities, two hosts for the evening, and three judges who decided the winner of Mr. Samford.
The contestants this year were the following:
Will Green- freshman pre-business major representing Sigma Chi
James Hornsby- senior finance major representing Alpha Omicron Pi
Micah Jones- sophomore exercise science major representing Phi Mu
Cambron Bice- sophomore journalism and mass communication major representing Tri Delta
Chad Jordan- junior journalism and mass communication major representing Alpha Omicron Pi
Corbin Smith- freshman journalism and mass communication major representing Chi Omega
John Henry Fields- freshman representing Alpha Delta Pi
Andrew Smith- 4th year pharmacy student representing Alpha Delta Pi
Cam Hunt- sophomore biology major representing Alpha Omicron Pi
Jack Flemming- sophomore pre-business major representing Phi Mu
Lewis Campbell- freshman pre-business major representing Chi Omega
Jackson McKinney- sophomore pre-business major representing Zeta Tau Alpha
EJ Castro- sophomore worship and the arts major representing Zeta Tau Alpha
All these contestants were presented in a video in the beginning of the show, and performed a little opening number. The rest of the events included a swim or beach wear portion, interviews with the contestants, evening wear and the talent portion.
The talent portion was the most popular with the students who cheered and laughed. Talents presented in Mr. Samford included James Hornsby telling stories of his car troubles, Chad Jordan cooking a hot pocket on stage, Corbin Smith playing “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri on the saxophone, Jackson McKinney solving a rubix cube with his feet and Will Green’s mathematical magic trick. Cambron Bice brought back the Alpha Tau Omega dance break from this year’s Step Sing performance.
The titles presented to some of the contestants were “Money Man,” “Mr. Congeniality,” “Runner-Up” and “Mr. Samford.” “Mr. Congeniality” was awarded to freshman Will Green. Sophomore EJ Castro won both the “Money Man” and “Mr. Samford” titles, and the “Runner-Up” was sophomore Jackson McKinney.
Overall, this event was full of laughter, cheers, and smiles from both the contestants and the audience, and it was an event that helped raise money for a good cause.
