By Richard Miller
Opinions Assistant
The Brower Student Center Room 100 was filled to the brim with excitement, laughter and suspenseful energy as the audience awaited an answer to an annual question – who would be this year’s Deepher Dude?
On April 10 at 8:30 p.m., the sisters of Delta Phi Epsilon hosted their annual male beauty pageant, Deepher Dude, to raise money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. According to its website, the foundation supports the search for a cure for cystic fibrosis while helping further improve the lives of those living with the disease.
“This is our biggest of the three philanthropy fundraisers we do each year and it means so much to us,” said Allison Longo, a junior communication studies major and vice president of programming for Delta Phi Epsilon. “It is so great to see the community come out and support such a great cause.”
The night opened with a message from Anna Payne, a member of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, who suffers from the disease herself. She talked about her love and appreciation for Delta Phi Epsilon's continued support of the foundation and how it has personally impacted her.
The evening’s emcees, Nicky Howard, a senior sociology major, and Diana Battaglia, a senior finance major, introduced the contestants, each of whom represented various organizations on campus. Such clubs included the chess team, the men’s basketball team and multiple representatives from Greek fraternities. The three judges included two Delta Phi Epsilon alumni and last year’s reigning Deepher Dude, junior biology major Conor Holden.
The contest consisted of three rounds – outerwear, question and answer and the infamous talent round. During the outerwear round, contestants wore their favorite outfits, which included a unicorn onesie and a very small pair of overall ‘jorts.’
The question and answer round was divided into two parts. The first question was the same for all the contestants — what does Delta Phi Epsilon's motto, Esse Quam Videri, which translates to “be rather than to seem to be,” mean to you? Answers to these questions ranged, but most answered in a joking manner. One contestant talked about how adherence to this motto made the ‘deeph’ girls stand out, while another emphasized how important it was to stay true to yourself a “embrace your inner deeph.”
For the second part of this round, students were asked a series of light-hearted questions that were intended to make the audience laugh. Questions in this round included, “finish the sentence, big deeph energy is…” and “What is your perfect date, and which ‘deeph’ would you bring along?”
After a brief intermission filled with music and food, the most important and entertaining part of the night finally arrived — the talent round. The most memorable talent was when a contestant played a variety of covers on his keyboard while he was blindfolded. Other contestants covered songs including,“Old Town Road” by Lil Nas X, a sing-along to the Owl City hit “Firefly” and “Maybe It's Time” from the film, “A Star is Born.”
At the end of the event, Jake Hill, a sophomore psychology major, was declared this year’s Deepher Dude.
“Deepher Dude is a fun and exciting interaction between a bunch of different organizations on campus,” said Wandally Vargas, a freshmen political science major who attended the event.
In the end, Delta Phi Epsilon raised a total $1,899 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
