By Hope Benjamin
Elm Staff Writer
After a year-long hiatus, Big Man on Campus returned to Washington College to raise money for sorority Zeta Tau Alpha’s philanthropy: breast cancer awareness.
Prior to the event on Oct. 24, which was held in Alonzo G. and Virginia Gent Decker Theater, ZTA hosted their Pink Out Week from Oct. 21-25 to raise awareness and advertise the male pageant and talent show.
According to ZTA’s Philanthropy Chair sophomore Shelby Farris, having the opportunity to plan Big Man has been amazing and fulfilling. She had a lot of support from her sisters and from the entire campus as a whole to make an event like this happen.
ZTA’s Philanthropy is breast cancer awareness and education. The proceeds from Pink Out Week benefit the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation to support scholarships, educational programming, leadership development, and the fight against breast cancer, which includes their partnership with the NFL, the American Cancer Society, and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Leading up to Big Man, ZTA tabled in Hodson Hall Commons. They passed out pink breast cancer ribbons, pink breast cancer awareness necklaces, and key chains. They also collaborated with Cleopatra Sisters to host a bra decorating event.
Big Man is a tradition on campus hosted by the sisters of ZTA where male students go head-to-head for the title of Big Man on Campus.
“So many people contributed to the success of Big Man. Without the overwhelming support of [the] campus we would not have been able to hold this event,” Farris said.
This year’s Big Man featured 10 contestants: sophomores Kyle Wyngaard, Zachary Tipton, and Justin Looper; junior Nick Littleton; and seniors Ben Erickson, Zachary Osucha, Hunter Frederick, Nick Scelfo, Alex Hall, and Noah Gentry.
Each contestant had a ZTA sister as a sponsor, and Farris hosted the event.
Alpha Chi Omega president junior Sydney Walker, Alpha Omnicron Pi president senior Claire Garretson, and ZTA president senior Katie Opielski were the judges for the event. The surprise judge was Executive Assistant to the Vice President for Student Affairs Jennifer Schultz.
The contestants started the competition off with a dance to “Hot To Go” by Chappell Roan before heading into the first round.
Following the group performance, the contestants dressed up in their favorite or well-known Washington College gear. Student athelete Gentry donned his rowing team uniform, while Frederick wore his George’s General jacket.
A highlight of this portion was when Loomer strutted across stage dressed as George Washington. He even answered his question in-character.
The second portion of the competition was the individual talent performances.
Lip-syncing and dancing were very popular. Hall performed the well-known dance from “Napolean Dynamite,” while Gentry did a Chappell Roan remix, and Wyngaard mimiced the “Jingle Bell Rock” dance from “Mean Girls.”
Other musical performances included Tipton’s sexy cooking dance to Troy Sivan’s “One of Your Girls,” Osucha dancing to “It’s Raining Men” by The Weather Girls, Littleton tap-dancing to “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen, and Frederick lip-syncing to “Europapa” by Joost.
Looper displayed his passion for playing the Hungarian dance no. 5 on the piano and teased the crowd by opening with “Hot Cross Buns.” Erickson displayed his rhythmic gymnastic skills to “Set Fire to the Rain” by Adele.
The final talent at the end of this competition was Scelfo’s fishing comedy act.
After a short intermission for the judges to decide, they announced the winners.
The first award was People’s Choice, which is given to the contestant who displays character by the audience. This year’s winner was Hall.
Hall said that being a part of this competition was so fun, as he put a lot of time and dedication into learning the “Napolean Dynamite” dance. He also enjoyed getting to know the other contestants better while also raising money for such an important cause.
Next was the Fundraising award, given to a contestant who raised the most money for ZTA’s philanthropy. Tipton won this award because he raised over $900.
It was finally time to announce the most spectacular award of the night: Big Man on Campus 2024. This award is given to the contestant with the best all-around score taking into consideration talent, quality, and a Think Pink attitude.
Thanks to his George Washington get-up and fantastic piano skills, Looper went home with the coveted Big Man on Campus title.
Looper was very grateful to have the opportunity to participate in this event. He also said it was great to be able to help raise money for such an important cause.
“I can confidently say that I could have seen any of us winning. I want to also give a huge shoutout to Shelby for putting together and running such an incredible event,” Looper said.
At the end of Pink Out Week, ZTA raised over $6,500 for the Zeta Tau Alpha Foundation.