Two students were chosen to represent the Stevenson community for the 2018 Homecoming and Family Weekend on Oct. 18 and announced during the bonfire located at Caves parking lot that evening.
Jordan Brown, a senior theatre and media performance major, and Jocelyn Richards, a junior elementary education major, are the winners of the 2018 Mr. and Ms. Stevenson pageant show.
“I feel great,” Brown said. “Just seeing all my friends congratulate me in this moment, what more can I ask for.”
According to the Stevenson University website, Brown’s career goal is to become an actor while continuing his work in photography and digital media.
“I was so nervous coming up to this moment,” said Richards. You all didn’t see this, but after my talent portion of jump roping, I was backstage walking around in circles cause I was so exhausted.”
Richards is a resident assistant, a school ambassador, and one of the founding members of Timber Grove Tigers Mentoring Club.
Mr. and Ms. SU is an annual competition during which the Stevenson University student body selects a man and a woman to represent Stevenson during the annual Homecoming and Family Weekend. Contestants compete to win votes from the students during Homecoming week, and this year, winners were announced later in the week during the annual bonfire.
The pageant show portion of the event, held on Oct. 15, included seniors Christine Favata and Taylor Wilkins and junior Jocelyn Richards running for Ms. SU and seniors Jordan Brown and Ariel Lowenthal for Mr. SU.
Lowenthal, a film and moving image major, ran for Mr. Stevenson, making her the first female to run for Mr. Stevenson.
“If a guy can do it, why can’t a girl?” asked Lowenthal. “I struggle with discrimination because I am a woman. I am breaking the boundaries and breaking down those walls.”
The pageant consists of three categories in which contestants compete. In the first category, the contestants wore business casual attire and answered questions on how they uphold the core values of the university.
The second category was the talent competition during which the contestants tried to win the crowd based on their talent. Both Favata and Brown brought humor to the audience with an array of jokes, while Richards rope danced, an extreme form of jump roping and dancing combined. Each contestant performed a talent that best portrayed their personality.
In the third and final category, contestants, in formal attire, answered questions regarding a tradition he or she would start at Stevenson and explained why the students should pick them for the win. Voting took place directly after the pageant show where students cast their vote on a piece of paper.
Throughout the week, the contestant had a chance to gain more votes in two more competitions. On Oct. 16, each contestant placed a donation box in the Rockland lobby where students could donate non-perishable food items or clothing to a specific charity. Each item was considered a vote. On Oct. 17, the contestants had to take photos with students wearing green and post to their Instagram stories. Each post was considered another vote.
Maya Murphy contributed to this article.
