Mr. Involvement crowned Mr. USU
Another year, another Mr. Utah State University pageant between men from different colleges and parts of campus life.
The pageant was Western-themed this year, and four judges evaluated the contestants on three different categories — talent, formal wear and group dance.
The talents varied. Parker Hicks’ talent was being able to guess the items being thrown at him, like a football and a watermelon. Another candidate, Steve Bunnell, performed different impersonations, animal calls and a verse from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s, “Think of Me.”
But there can only be one winner, and ultimately, the 2022 Mr. USU crown went to Mr. Involvement, Ethan Thomas.
His talent was clogging, which he has been doing for the past 14 years. Thomas said his favorite part of Mr. USU was interacting with all of the guys.
“Getting to know everybody — at first, I didn’t think it was going to happen, but now, they’re like all my homies,” he said.
Going into this school year as Mr. USU, Thomas said, “I really hoped people were entertained and also that they feel comfortable talking to anybody because everybody has these awesome little talents and little skills.”
When asked what he wanted students to know about himself, Thomas said, “I love having fun. Feel free to talk to me because there’s no reason not to get to know a new person.”
The talents were judged by the Mr. USU 2021 Kaleb Cavazos, current student body president Clara Alder, executive director of Student Involvement and Leadership Linda Zimmerman, and USU alumnus and vice president of sales at S.E. Needham Jewelers J.D. Needham.
The judges awarded second attendant to Steve Bunnell and first attendant to Matt Richey. Mr. Congeniality was awarded to Nils Larson.
After receiving the most likes on the Utah State Student Events Instagram, Caden Coleman won the award for People’s Choice.
Brie Adams, the director of the Traditions committee for USU Student Events, was in charge of planning Mr. USU this year.
When asked what the best part of planning was, Adams said, “The Western theme. It was really fun. I really liked the creative process of it all.”
-Sara.Prettyman@usu.edu
Featured photo by Sam Warner