SUSC to crown ‘Mr. and Ms. BU’ at charity event

Nine couples will be competing for the title of Mr. and Ms. Boston University tomorrow night in the George Sherman Union’s Metcalf Hall.

Sponsored by the Boston University Student Union Service Council, the event will showcase a male and female student from each of BU’s schools, except Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, SUSC chairman Michael Pereira said this week.

All proceeds for ‘Mr. and Ms. Boston University’ will go to Camp Hope and BU Rape and Aggression Defense.

‘Camp Hope runs out of Ecuador and delivers shelter, medicine and care to battered children,’ Pereira said. ‘However, due to 9/11, they have had trouble raising money. We are just trying to do anything we can to help them out.’

‘RAD helps students at BU defend themselves against sexual assaults,’ he added. ‘Both are great causes.’

Beginning at 7 p.m., the 18 contestants will kick the show off with a performance of Pink’s ‘Get the Party Started’ before moving into the five judged categories, which will display the students’ beauty, talent and creativity.

‘These couples have been working really hard since the end of February to put on a great show for everyone,’ Pereira said.

Each contestant will compete in three fashion categories. First, ‘Be You’ will ask them to show off their unique style.

‘The contestants are getting really creative for the ‘active wear’ portion,’ Pereira said. ‘A lot of them were not comfortable wearing swimsuits so they branched out and really brought new meaning to term ‘active wear.”

For the ‘evening wear’ category, a local tuxedo rental store donated 18 tuxedos for the event.

Pereira said a majority of the overall score will be based on the contestants’ performance in the talent portion of the program. Pereira said the talent portion would count as 40 percent of their final score.

Each pair will be allotted a certain amount of time to perform their talent and Pereira said each couple will bring a little of their own school to the mix. For example, the couple from the College Fine Arts will be doing a musical number.

Finally, the panel of yet unnamed judges will pose a question to each contestant.

‘There is going to be a veil of mystery about the judges,’ Pereira said.

In order to maintain objectivity, the list of judges has been kept a secret. Pereira, however, said there would be 22 judges altogether.

‘There will be two [judges] from each school and then three campus celebrities,’ Pereira said. ‘The couples and judges were chosen by the student governments of each school. That was the fairest way to do it and guarantees an even representation.’

Pereira said SUSC runs many events each year. With this event, Pereira said, they tried to do something different.

‘The Service Council holds a different event each year,’ Pereira said. ‘We try to do something unique for the student body and fight for a good cause at the same time.’

This year’s beauty pageant was inspired by the movie ‘Miss Congeniality,’ he said. The theme song ‘One in a Million’ comes from the movie.

Last year the Service Council held ‘Money for a Honey,’ which auctioned off a date with BU celebrities to raise money for ‘Samaritans,’ a group fighting against teen suicides.

Pereira said BU spirit would be obvious at the event.

‘Everyone who comes in is going to feel the BU spirit,’ Pereira said.

Not only will the event represent each of the school at BU, but ‘The Dear Abbeys’ will also be performing and the BU dance team will be starting the night off, Pereira added.

Advance tickets cost $5 and will be sold at the Student Link and Student Activities Business Office from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and in front of Warren and West Campus Dining Halls. Tickets will also be sold at the door for $7.