Last night, seven teams of three students presented in front of more than 200 audience members in the Business College Complex.

Students gave information about their multicultural hero, his or her impact on society and their hero’s connections to the philosophy of Martin Luther King Jr.

The event was sponsored by Multicultural Business Programs and Altria Group Distribution Company.

Lasenby’s hero, Lucy Randolph Mason, was a fighter for women’s rights and workers’ rights. Her presentation was a recollection of Randolph Mason’s impact and her ties to King.

“It was hard taking all of this information and making it fun — making it so it is not a history classroom,” Lasenby said.

Lasenby said after receiving feedback from judges at a dress rehearsal last Sunday, she and her teammates revised much of their presentation to make it more engaging.

Paulette Granberry Russell, director of the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives and judge at the event, said she has been judging since the competition first started 11 years ago.

“The range of heroes students can choose from has broadened,” Granberry Russell said. “It has gone from those you would typically expect to see as multicultural heroes to those that students wouldn’t normally see, like this year’s multicultural heroes.”

Marketing junior Elyse Hoekstra said her team also had many revisions to make after the dress rehearsal, including adding a singing scene to their presentation.

Hoekstra and her team presented on Paul Robeson, an athlete, singer, actor and activist. They won first place and a $1,500 prize.

“We’re not experienced singers, so we’re challenging ourselves in two different ways — speaking and singing,” Hoekstra said.

Accounting sophomore Cameron Sullivan, whose team won first place last year, said winning the competition has rewards bigger than money.

“We got more recognition from our advisers and that felt really good because there are a lot of students coming through, and they don’t know a lot of students,” Sullivan said.