Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Mr. and Miss Black MSU Pageant winners talk about their victories

April 6, 2016
Applied engineering and science junior Malik Hall, left and supply chain management freshman Talaya Bates pose for a photo during the "Mr and Mrs Black MSU Pageant," at the Kellogg Center Auditorium on April 2, 2016. Hall and Bates were the runners up
Applied engineering and science junior Malik Hall, left and supply chain management freshman Talaya Bates pose for a photo during the "Mr and Mrs Black MSU Pageant," at the Kellogg Center Auditorium on April 2, 2016. Hall and Bates were the runners up —
Photo by Kelly vanFrankenhuyzen | and Kelly vanFrankenhuyzen The State News

Humbled and honored is the way physiology freshman Joseph Enwerejobi said he felt after being crowned 2016-17’s Mr. Black MSU.

Interdisciplinary studies in social science sophomore Charniece Lang said she joined the competition to prove her confidence. She was crowned 2016-17’s Miss Black MSU.

“Those who have won the title have always brought tremendous change to MSU, whether it was through personal victories that go unheard of or large on-campus events,” Lang said. “I wanted to be that type of person for someone else, and show that a girl like myself, who may be shy, can get on stage and show as much confidence as any powerful woman.”

The competition included eight participants and several events, such as talents, question and answer sessions and global awareness presentations and was held at the Kellogg Center on April 2.

Enwerejobi said he feels his new position will assist him in his ultimate goal in college, which is to give back to his community.

“My whole purpose at Michigan State is to uplift the community and have it grow in progress and prosper, and I think being Mr. Black will definitely give me the way to do that,” Enwerejobi said.

For the Global Awareness section of the pageant, Enwerejobi spoke about the issue of the “school to prison pipeline,” referring to the direct link between education and incarceration.

“Through researching this topic, the ideas and the statistics made me very fascinated, so I decided to do a presentation where I could learn and grow while also teaching other people about this problem,” Enwerejobi said.

Lang said she is excited to be representing the black population of MSU and said she feels honored to have been crowned with such a prestigious title.

“I’m so humbled and so honored, and helping the educational development of the black community at MSU and beyond,” Lang said. “To be recognized and being given the opportunity to do this is so amazing. It’s said that with great power comes great responsibility, and I am willing to hold that responsibility proudly."

Social relations and policy senior Jocelyn Hines was one of the pageant coordinators and said she feels that the newly chosen Mr. and Miss Black MSU will live up to their titles by representing MSU’s Black Student Alliance well.

“Being a role model and a servant to the black community is what this title means, and all of the contestants were great, but I think that the judges chose a couple who would successfully represent MSU’s black community,” Hines said.

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