MITCHELL LIERMAN
liermanm2@lopers.unk.edu
The seventh annual Alpha Phi King of Hearts male pageant was held at Kearney High School Thursday.
This year’s competitors came from a broad pool of student organizations including fraternities and athletic teams in addition to Student Government, Christian Student Fellowship and the Japanese Students Association.
Participants included Adam Schultis of CSF, Brady Deprez of Delta Tau Delta, Kendall Raschein of the football team, Yudai Takahashi of the Japanese Association, Fabian Chacon of Phi Delta Theta, Nate Drozd of Pi Kappa Alpha, Jose Arrendondo of Sigma Lambda Beta, Austin Jacobsen of Sigma Phi Epsilon, Ben Pinkerton of Sigma Tau Gamma, Andrew Burival of Student Government, Ross Berggren of the track and field time, and Brayden Willis of the wrestling time.
The competition consisted of brief descriptions of each of the 12 contestants, followed by humorous personal videos of each competitor highlighting their individual merits. Jose Arrendando’s video featured him making his case by spelling out the acronym “KING” and acting out ironic sketches for each of the letters.
Following the videos, contestants demonstrated their unique talents. Brady Deprez stunned the audience with his magic tricks and musical stylings; his act included the classic pick your card trick with a series of interesting twists including producing a second deck of cards from his mouth, taking off his long sleeve overshirt to unveil a flannel, and further taking off this flannel mid-song only to reveal at the end of the song that the volunteer’s card was on the back of his undershirt the entire time.
Other talent acts included auctioneering by Adam Schultis, piano playing by Fabian Chacon, and hair styling by Kendall Raschein.
Logan Shaw, a Physics major from Ellis, Kansas, said, “I really enjoyed seeing all of the guys goof off and make people laugh. It made me feel like everybody was here for the same reason, to make the best of things and support each other.”
The question and answer section wrapped up the competition, where questions were randomly selected based on a pool of questions including such inquiries as “What are the first three things you would do if you became President?” “What three things would you take with you if you were stuck on a deserted island?” and “If your life was a movie, what would it be called?” Ben Pinkerton fielded the last of these questions. He said his title would be “Sleeping Beauty,” citing his tendency to sleep a lot for the first word and stroking his face with a wink to the audience for the second.
As the night began to wrap up, students reflected on the event. “I thought it was really cool seeing everyone in the community come together to support this,” said Emily Saadi, a Political Science and Psychology double major from Kearney. The night ended with awards in five categories. The titles of Mr. Heartthrob and Mr. Congeniality went to Brayden Willis and Austin Jacobsen, respectively. Mr. People’s Choice, chosen by popular vote, was given to Kendall Raschein. Brady Deprez won best talent with his magic act. The final award of this year’s King of Hearts contest, the titular King of Hearts award, was given to Adam Schultis to conclude a night of fun, pageantry, and charity. All proceeds from the event’s ticket sales went to the Alpha Phi Foundation which will help them finance their goals of advancing women’s lives.
