Laughter, chatter and loud, upbeat music filled Akin Auditorium on the evening of Sept. 28. About 250 attendees came to support eight students who participated in the 2017 Mr. and Miss Caribfest pageant, the first of four events spanning from Sept. 28-30.
Hosted by Caribbean Students Organization, this is the first year the pageant chose a Mr. Caribfest. There were four segments each contestant had to go through: talent, swimsuit, evening wear/GQ and an interview. The pageant opened with a moment of silence for those affected by Hurricane Irma.
From the eight contestants — four male, four female — Sophomores Rocksen Jean-Louis and Beyandra Blanchard took the top titles. Despite the decisions the judges had to make, Students Donté Benn and Jamilia Frank were satisfied with the results.
“I thought the results were fair,” Jamilia Frank, pre-nursing freshman, said, “I thoroughly enjoyed the event.”
Frank attended Caribfest to support her friends, including first Runner Up for Mr. Caribfest Edward Collins. Her favorite part of the pageant was the talent portion.
“The contestants really did their best job. My favorite performer was Edward Collins,” Frank said.
Accounting sophomore Donté Benn thought the decision “was close, and was great at the end.”
Benn helped plan Caribfest and attended to see the talent the contestants had to offer for the campus. Benn’s favorite segment was the swimsuit because of the modeling. He plans to attend the final three events of Caribfest: Soca Show, Parade Day and Culture Show, and Glow Fete.
Both Frank and Benn are members of Caribbean Students Organization.
Mr. and Miss Caribfest are also members of CSO. While both knew about Caribfest, they had their own reasons to run for Mr. and Miss Caribfest. Rocksen Jean-Louis, computer science sophomore, made the decision to run for Mr. Caribfest was to try something new.
“You know a new experience. I am always open to new experiences,” Jean-Louis said.
As the first Mr. Caribfest, Rocksen has already planned a few decisions.
“I plan on first, attending all the other Caribfest activities and using my power –whatever power I have– to do better in terms of whatever they need me to do, be more available for them.”
Beyandra Blanchard, radiologic technology sophomore, heard about the pageant from a chair member.
“One of the chair members actually reached out to me and asked me to participate. I was there last year but I didn’t really participate that much, that’s why this year, I wanted to make up for my shortcomings of last year.”
In her opinion, Miss Caribfest is a great platform to speak out on issues, especially ethnocentrism, the belief in the inherent superiority of one’s own ethnic group or culture. “That’s a good platform, to go ahead and share my thoughts,” Blanchard said.