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By
Tia Lockett
BATON ROUGE --
Although the event was not highly publicized, over 250
students turned out for the 100 Black Men’s 1st
Annual Miss Collegiate Pageant last night. The vision of the
collegiate chapter of 100 Black Men is a non-profit
mentorship program that creates a link between the
older and younger generations of Black men in the
community. Most importantly is the program for high
school males which is seen as a passport to manhood.
The motto is “What they see is what they’ll be.” The
program lasts eight months and includes various
workshops, awards, and culminates every March with a Beautillion.
Smooth R&B flowed from the sound system as sophisticated
Black men in black suits welcomed everyone to the
pageant. The theme of the pageant was “Elegance
personified women of elegance and class.” The lights
were dim as the first scene, the introduction,
opened with Beyonce’s “Get ‘Em Bodied” played in the
background with the girls “strutting their stuff” on
the stage. After the first scene, 100 Black Men
President Ruben Griffin, invited all the young men
in the mentorship program to the front to partake in
the manhood pledge. The second scene was business
attire, which was then followed by a performance by
the Gold & Blues.
Nioboli Armah, IV, Student Government president, addressed
the crowd about his advocacy campaign that includes
three initiatives: awareness, town hall meetings,
and community service. The swimsuit scene included
young men escorting the ladies down the aisle. Keith
Jacobs ft. Coppertop wowed the crowd with a
performance for all the ladies in the audience
entitled “Can We Dance?” The ladies then ended the
night with formals and the Q&A portion. Audience
member and SGA senator, Carey L.H. Ash said, “I
really appreciated the question and answer section
of the pageant because it focused on the mental and
not the physical appearance of the ladies.”
Miss Tiffany Campbell, from Shreveport, La., was announced
the winner of the pageant. Campbell will be featured
as the lead model of the 100 Black Men calendar. All
other contestants will fall into place in the
calendar by the scores they received in the pageant.
The calendars will be the main source of
fund-raising next year.
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