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Hey guys, do you have what it takes to be Mr. Uni?
By Shivani Khanna
Gargoyle assistant editor
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2006, The OG, news
HERE'S A brain buster for you: What do male Uni students and a United for Uganda fund-raiser have in common?
Answer: the Mr. Uni male pageant and all-school talent show.
What's Mr. Uni, you ask?
“It's a fund-raiser for UFU — it's like the Ms. America pageants except with guys,” says Dana Al-Qadi, a member of UFU, the student group dedicated to spreading awareness about and raising funds for the “invisible children” of northern Uganda.
UFU's most recent event was the junior/senior lock-in that took place Nov. 11-12 and netted more than $1,000.
“We got the idea from Centennial because they do a Mr. Charger every year,” continues Al-Qadi, who spent a year at Centennial before transferring. “Participants have a talent segment, and they answer questions, and then they strut their stuff, and it's basically just a fun way for us to raise money.”
Auditions for both the talent show and the pageant will be held Monday from 4 to 5 p.m. in Room 206 and Tuesday during lunch in the same room. Auditions for the talent show are open to anyone, male or female, but the pageant is just for male students.
“Boys interested in the pageant need to have a talent prepared and be able to answer questions on the spot about any topic, have their best pick-up line in mind, and express why they want to be Mr. Uni — it's a very important honor if they are chosen,” says Al-Qadi.
“For those who want to be a part of the talent performers in between each Mr. Uni segment, they should be able to perform their talent for us during the audition. This gives other Uni students a chance to participate and show off their talents even if they're not interested in running to be Mr. Uni.”
The show, tentatively planned to take place in the North Attic on March 31, will have four parts: a casual- or athletic-wear competition, an evening-wear segment, a question-and-answer session that will allow participants to express their personality, and a talent segment. A crown, sash, scepter, and bouquet of flowers will be awarded to Mr. Uni.
“There will be a panel of judges during the talent events and the question-and-answer session,” says senior Amanda Grill, one of the UFU organizers. “The judges will deliberate over the contestants' talents, their answers to the questions, their originality, their demeanor, and how they carry themselves,”
Adds Al-Qadi: “It's really light-hearted. The main goal here besides fund-raising is to have fun and be funny. We're not judging anybody on their looks and their physical attributes; we're judging them based on their talents. We're not trying to make anybody feel bad about anything. It's just a fun way to have a talent show and let people showcase their talents, because Uni kids have so many different talents in so many different areas and they rarely get to show them off at school.”
Admission to the event will be $4 for parents and $3 for students. Money raised from the event will go toward the Uganda Children of War Rehabilitation Center.
RELATED GARGOYLE CONTENT
— Locked up in Uni … for a good cause
— Photos: Raising money, having fun at United for Uganda lock-In
