Philanthropies 101: Mr.DZirable

Ever watched Miss America and thought, “I wonder if frat stars could work it like that?” Probably not, but UVA definitely found out last Tuesday night at the Mr. DZirable Pageant.

Greek life at UVA in the spring is always full of philanthropy and fun, but the sisters of Delta Zeta took a particularly unique approach to raising money for their cause last week. The Starkey Hearing Foundation that aims to provide care to hearing impaired individuals all around the globe so that “the world may hear” is a philanthropy that is dear to their sisterhood, and Delta Zeta hoped to raise money for this cause while bringing the Greek community together.

Naturally, they turned to male pageantry and the Inter-Fraternity Council’s chapters willingly offered up their members to compete for the title of first ever Mr. DZirable including: Sam Kennedy, Michael Carter, Alex Kesselring, Nick Willenbrock, Forrest Diggs, Le’Bryant Bell, Ford Whitticar, Keating Walsh, Thomas Van Wazer, Evan Raj, Tuomas Talavitie, Matt Pik, JK Rockett, and Spencer Kulow. Contestants were also sponsored by several Inter-Sorority Council chapters and judges included representatives from CIOs, sports teams, the Office of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and even Newcomb’s beloved Mrs. Kathy, resulting in a huge turnout of supporters for the event, filling McLeod Hall.

The competition began with an opening number that attempted to highlight the contestant’s most prominent asset….their lack of shame. 

Following those studly moves, the contestants showed us their talents ranging from singing and dancing, to graceful ribbon twirling. The contestants showed amazing bravery and charisma as they took the stage for a wonderful cause, cracking up the entire audience and even the emcees. 

After talent, the competition was cut down to the top five before a question and answer portion on stage. These top five contestants expressed their DZire to be Mr. DZirable with speeches ranging from tales of pride and honor to commitments to “all the deaf children,” because after all, “it’s always been about the deaf children.” Needless to say, all of the brave contestants were pretty DZirable, but, in the end, Spencer Kulow of Sigma Pi was crowned the first ever Mr. DZirable for his beautiful rendition of U2’s “With or Without You” and Matt Pik from Phi Society took home Runner-Up. Superlatives were also given to each contestant for their hard work and dedication in preparation for such an awesome new philanthropy.

Mr. DZirable proved to be an extrememly sucessful new spring philanthropy, raising almost $2000 for the Starkey Hearing Foundation and bringing together the whole Greek community. The fourteen IFC contestants, Delta Zeta’s Philanthropy Chair Rachel Smith and President Alex Carter, and all those that contributed to the success of the event should be proud of their hard work. Her Campus definitely can’t wait to see what next year’s competition will have in store.

• philanthropy