The legacies of Fredrick Douglass, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandela, Susan B. Anthony and George Washington Carver were brought to life by MSU students Wednesday night in the fourth annual MSU Multicultural Heroes Hall of Fame competition.
For the last month, five teams of three members gathered information about an assigned hero to make a 10-minute presentation to three university officials about why that person should be inducted into the hall of fame.
The teams were judged on research, overall presentation and how well they linked their heroes with Martin Luther King Jr.'s ideologies.
The Eli Broad College of Business Dean Robert Duncan, judged the competition and said he was impressed with the effort the students put into their performances.
"A big part of the business school is focusing on diversity and multicultural issues," Duncan said. "It was terrific."
For the first time in the competition's history, two teams were each awarded $1,500 for first-place finishes.
Marketing seniors Theresa Watts, Kathleen Brooks and Steven Savickas, won for their presentation on women's' right activist Susan B. Anthony. Marketing senior Kimberly Eure, communication sophomore Amelia Stephens and telecommunication, information studies and media senior David Demps also won first place for their skit on George Washington Carver, which included a dramatic poetry reading about the famed agriculturist.
Demps said he spent hours looking over pictures of Carver, trying to discover more about the man he would portray at the competition.
"From an acting standpoint, I thought I had it down," Demps said. "I just had to find his voice through his words."
Brooks, who dressed as Anthony, said her team did extensive research watching videos and reading up on Anthony's work to find what she stood for.
"We didn't know a lot about her, which is why we chose her," Brooks said. "We all came together, which was the best feeling regardless of who won the money."
The competition was sponsored by the Eli Broad College of Business and Philip Morris USA to promote achievements in multiculturalism during Black History Month.
"It was the best competition in the history of the program," said Darrell King, associate director of Multicultural Business Program in the Eli Broad College of Business. "The students really utilized visual aids and really connected with the audience."
King added that the college will donate the additional money for the tie.
The competition showed that students care about multiculturalism on campus, said Anne Crain, a graduate assistant with the Multicultural Business Program.
"Sometimes business students have a reputation of not caring about society, but this competition proves that wrong," Crain said. "They've all taken the initiative to research their heroes and find information about them that's unique, creative and told in a new way."
