Coleman Rusnock, Mr. Sigma Phi Epsilon, was declared Mr. Fraternity 2004-2005 last Saturday after an impressive presentation and house participation in this year's pageant.

Mr. Fraternity is an annual charity pageant sponsored by Kappa Alpha Theta for the fraternity houses, in which each house elects one pledge or brother to be a contestant. This year, thirteen fraternities participated in the pageant.

Similar to many famed pageants such as Ms. America, Mr. Fraternity began with a beachwear competition, which was followed by a more unique "togawear" competition. Both categories were judged on the participants' costumes' originality and fit, as well as the contestants' stage presence.

There were many notable beachwear and togawear costumes. Eric Hong, Mr. Lambda Phi Epsilon, walked out to "In the Jungle" sporting a jungle-themed bathing suit and banana, which he "slipped" on when he exited the stage. Chris Nelson, Mr. Sigma Nu, and Daniel Walsh, Mr. Kappa Sigma, also made use of props — Nelson taped a stuffed dog to his wet suit, throwing it out into the audience as he reached the end of the catwalk, and Walsh wore a moppy wig and glasses to impersonate Austin Powers. Rusnock made the most out of props, wearing a full merman costume and being pushed on stage atop a throne fit for King Trident of Disney's The Little Mermaid.

For the togawear competition, Rusnock didn't just walk out, he was carried out on a platform in perfect Greco-Roman style. Chris Manganello, Mr. Beta Theta Pi, mixed "wear" themes by making his toga out of SpongeBob SquarePants material. Nelson also pulled his toga idea from a cartoon show, dressed exactly like Fred Flintstone. Although Keith Aziz, Mr. Kappa Delta Rho, wore a very traditional toga, he still wowed the judges by handing them a red rose.

The talent section was the lengthiest part of Mr. Fraternity, and produced the greatest response from the audience due to the excellence of all of the acts. Performances were judged on originality, entertainment value, flow, and assumed preparation.

Four participants' talent was lip syncing and dancing. Greg Look, Mr. Sigma Tau Gamma, was the first of these, "singing" Da Vinci's Notebook's "Title of the Song," a fill-in-the-blank parody of typical boy band music, with three other SigTau's. Next was Aziz, who performed "I Feel Pretty" from West Side Story with two other KDR brothers, complete with girlish props and dresses. Flynn Jones, Mr. Pi Kappa Alpha, performed "Everybody" by the Backstreet Boys with four back-up lip-syncers and dancers, ending the piece by tearing off their pants and showing "PIKA" written across the backs of their shorts. Lastly, Manganello and four of his fellow Beta's performed the Village People's "YMCA," complete with the time-honored dance moves and costumes.

Three competitors used genuine musical talent for this section of the pageant. Nik Lutomski, Mr. Phi Kappa Alpha, sang the love ballad "Kissing a Fool" while accompanied by a keyboardist. Dan Rosenthal, Mr. Alpha Epsilon Pi, played a beautiful classical guitar piece. Rusnock combined guitar and singing talents in his performance, a rendition of "I Believe in a Thing Called Love," while also backed by a full band.

Other Mr. Fraternity candidates displayed a variety of non-musical talents, ranging from the serious to the extremely funny. Shawn Ranjbaran, Mr. Theta Xi, showed his remarkable basketball skills, balancing and rolling the ball across his shoulders and back. Walsh also did a routine of tricks, but his was with a rifle, displaying skills that he learned through Carnegie Mellon's ROTC program. Hong and two fellow Lambdas performed a step routine interlaced with comedy. Nelson and Max Martinelli, Mr. Sigma Alpha Epsilon, also used comedy in their talents: Nelson magically ripped apart a pair of underwear and then produced them whole again à la the walk-off scene in Zoolander, and Martinelli wrapped himself in clear cellophane which he broke out of to the theme of 2001: A Space Odyssey to represent "the birth of man."

Manuel Monasi, Mr. Delta Upsilon, was disqualified during this section of the pageant for reciting a graphically erotic poem.

Formalwear and question & answer were combined into one judging category, based on demeanor, stage presence, personality, and quality of answers.

"Is this a question?" asked Jones hypothetically when asked what song best described him. "I'm a Backstreet Boy, baby!"

Martinelli, referring back to his talent, said that the historical figure he would like to meet would be God, "so [he] could find out how he perfected the birth of man."

Ranjbaran's answer that he would take a date to the library if he had to take her on-campus brought a loudly mixed response from the audience: "Maybe if she talked too much, I wouldn't like her anymore."

After the question and answer section, the judges finished their deliberations and audience members were allowed to vote.

After the scores were tallied Rusnock was presented with his Mr. Fraternity crown. Second place was awarded to Manganello and third to Walsh, and Flynn won Mr. Congeniality.

Theta began hosting Mr. Fraternity event in 1985 after the death of one of its sisters, Karin Johnson, due to an acute asthma attack. In honor of her memory, Theta hosts Mr. Fraternity and donates all proceeds from ticket sales to the Karin Johnson Memorial Fund, which is managed by the Ohio Lung Association. This year's pageant raised $4,153 for the fund.

A panel of judges included four Theta parents — Tom and Joanna Tano and Rich and Cindy Lackner — New House Housefellow M. Shernell Smith, computer science professor Don Slater, and Jennie Schweitzer, a Theta alumnus and Miss Pittsburgh USA. Though the panel had the heftiest say in the winner, the packed audience was also involved in the decision. After the competition concluded, audience members used their tickets to vote, which resulted in 20 percent of the participants' final scores.