On Friday September 1 from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. in Bucknall Theatre Sigma, Iota Alpha Inc. held their second annual Señor SIA Pageant. Members from all male fraternities across campus were invited to participate in the pageant, which consisted of three rounds including swimsuit, talent, and formal rounds.
Six fraternities were represented through the six different contestants. Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., Kappa Gamma Rho, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc., Sigma Lambda Beta Fraternity Inc were all represented.
Judges were also invited from various organizations around campus. The six judges represented Delta Phi Epsilon, Phi Sigma Sigma, Lambda Phi Upsilon, Monsoon Dance Team, W.R.I.T.E. Poetry, and Black Student Union.
This event began last year as a final end to SIA’s week celebration for Founders Day. The organization wanted to end the week with a big event. This year, they decided on a Friday to end the week with a big event and attract more attention on campus.
“This year was even more successful than last yearm” Vice President of SIA, Espranza Humphrey says. “It was a funnier, more playful environment, and contestants had more time to prepare. It worked out really well.”
The event began with a short video featuring all the contestants in a dating profile type format. It started the night off on a funny note and got the audience warmed up for the actual pageant. The first round was a swimsuit round; most contestants wore outfits that could be a swimsuit while some wore actual swim trunks. This round also consisted of each contestant performing a ‘signature move’ ranging from push-ups to handing flowers to the judges.
The second round was a talent round. Talents including everything from dancing to singing to playing percussion on milk cartons and soda cans. Finally, the third round was a formal round. Each contestant dressed up and was escorted to the stage by a member of SIA. They were then asked trivia questions about SIA. Questions ranged from “What are SIA’s mascots?” to “How many founding members were there?”
This pageant is one of SIA’s biggest programs, although they do a lot throughout the year. Programming is something that is important to the organization.
“We become more well-known when we do more programming,” says Humphrey. “Programming really enhances the campus community and promotes unity. It also raises money for our philanthropies. We have so many philanthropies so we want to put as much as we can into all of those.”
There was a table in the theatre lobby throughout the entire event collecting donations for their various philanthropies, focusing mainly on the child they are supporting in Honduras.
The night was a success, evoking laughter from the whole audience. At the end of the night Herlander Sousa, brother of Alpha Phi Alpha, took home the title of Señor SIA. Since he won the pageant, 50 percent of the proceeds from the night go to a philanthropy of his choice. He will be choosing one that fights against homeless hunger.
Student Rebecca Santos says, “The pageant was a great way to spend a Friday night. The contestants were super entertaining and it was nice to relax with all my friends.”
