Two Beddow Hall residents crowned king, queen of Residence Life

paegant-01 — Andrew Kuhn
Andrew Kuhn/Staff Photographer Contestants of the Central Michigan Spirit and Talent Contest dance on stage while awaiting the results from the judges Wednesday night at the UC Bovee Center on Campus.

Wednesday night, Troy freshman Scott Stewart and Bridgeport sophomore Karlee Parent of Beddow Hall were crowned King and Queen of Residence Life.

About 60 students gathered in the Bovee University Center Rotunda to support each pair of contestants from Herrig, Woldt, Troutman, Beddow, Campbell, Calkins, Merrill and Emmons halls.

Contestants showed their Central pride, their talent and answered questions in front of judges for the title.

Grosse Pointe sophomore Emily Peeples said she liked the talent show, because it was spontaneous.

“They didn't have a preplanned talent, so no one could really outshine anyone, and they all had an equal opportunity,” Peeples said.

But for others, like Holland freshman Nathan Printz, seeing others wear their Central clothes was fun. Many students added accessories to their spirit wear like tie-dye socks, capes and CMU baseball hats.

“I liked that everyone had their own creativity. One guy was wearing a football T-shirt, and some girl was wearing a nice graphic T-Shirt that said 'Central' on it,” Printz said. “It was a nice variety.”

Before the show began, the a capella group Central Harmony warmed up the crowd with a few songs.

“I thought it was cool how they did new songs like 'Moves Like Jagger' by Maroon 5,” Printz said.

Another guest performer at the pageant was slam poet Judea Walker, a Flint senior.

"Judea was awesome, although I could not make a personal connection with her poems, because she talked about love, and I am not ready for that yet," said Rockwood sophomore Joel Knack.

Before the final points were tallied, contestants competed in round three, where they had to answer various questions.

“I thought they did a good job answering questions, even though they did not have time to prepare for them,” Knack said.

Throughout the show, students from the audience cheered for their peers Beddow hall won $100 for the most people in attendance.

“I think the enthusiasm of the audience was what made the participants better on the stage,” said judge and Assistant Director of Residence Life Kim Voisin.

Students were able to purchase raffle tickets, they raised $400 for the Residence Hall Association’s national philanthropy, Crayons to Calculators.

Residence Life and five students in RPL 430: Planning Recreation Programs and Events, planned the event.

“We just wanted to do something for residence life," said Madison Heights senior Nicki Rowlett. "A lot of us are involved in other organizations, and we thought residence life needed something to call their own"