This is the first in a five-part series profiling the contestants of the Mr. Black MSU pageant.
Jason McGhee said Mr. Black MSU has an important function in the black student community.
“He’s a leader and a role model to the black community - someone people look up to and respect,” the studio art junior said.
McGhee, a minority aide in Holmes Hall, said he hopes to take on those duties by gaining the title Saturday.
The Mr. Black MSU pageant, sponsored by Black Student Alliance, profiles black male undergraduates who stand out academically, through their student leadership on and off campus.
Marketing senior DeAndre Carter, founder and president of DCI Motivational Services, a motivational speaking business, was crowned the first Mr. Black MSU last year.
BSA President Tonya Upthegrove said the event recognizes students making a difference in MSU’s black community.
“We want to dispel the myth of this being a beauty pageant,” the communication senior said. “It’s more of a leadership recognition award.”
As well as being a BSA member McGhee has volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club of Lansing, 4315 Pleasant Grove Road; Lansing’s Advent House Ministries, 743 N. Martin Luther King Blvd.; and is a founding member of the campus organization Brothers Organized to Promote a Change, a Christian group geared toward black male achievement.
Eric Blackwell, a member of Brothers Organized to Promote a Change, said these qualities make McGhee worthy of the title.
“Everything he does relates to either business or helping out the community,” the computer science junior said. “I think it would be an asset to have someone who gives back to the community, as he does.”
As a contestant in last year’s pageant, McGhee said he forged friendships with the other participants - which is one reason he is returning.
“Going through the pageant was exhilarating,” he said. “There’s a sense of responsibility that comes with running for the title and there’s also a bond that you build with the brothers that are in it with you. That’s what’s bringing me back this year.”
If he wins, McGhee said his primary goal will be to improve black student solidarity.
“We have to have some sense of unity on this campus if we want to have a community where we have a solid foundation,” he said. “Unity is in community, and we need to build the community back up.”
It’s a task McGhee said he believes he can achieve.
“As a leader, I have integrity,” he said. “Anyone who’s going to run for such a position needs to have integrity so that people can trust in you to represent them.”
The Mr. Black MSU pageant is at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Kellogg Center Auditorium. Admission is free.
