King Ken: Jake Russell crowned Mr. USU ‘23
On Oct. 4, contestants representing organizations of Utah State University competed in the Mr. USU pageant, vying for a coveted silver crown, a diamond-and-sapphire USU ring and the ability to represent Utah State as Mr. USU.
This year, the theme for Mr. USU was all about Ken. The doll usually stuck in the shadows of Barbie got his chance to shine.
Twelve candidates participated in a group number, performed an individual talent and completed a formal walk in an attempt to entertain fans, all while being critiqued by a panel of four judges.
Mr. USU is a Homecoming Week tradition, and many people consider it one of the most fun events of the year, including USUSA President Abe Rodriguez, who competed in Mr. USU last year and served as a judge this year.
“Honestly, this is probably one of my favorite events that I’ve ever attended and been a part of during my college years,” Rodriguez said. “I’m really excited for everyone to get to experience this tonight.”
Mr. USU-hopefuls also think it’s one of the most exciting events on campus. Josh White, also known as Mr. Science, said his experience last year led him to compete this year.
“I did Mr. USU last year with Abe Rodriguez, student body president, and I was a background dancer,” White said. “I thought it was so fun seeing the smiles on people’s faces and silly people dancing on stage, so I wanted to be a part of that this year while representing my college. Just want to bring light to people and be silly onstage.”
The contestants worked hard on all aspects of the show. Brooklyn Ward, an emcee for the night and choreographer of the opening number, shared the dedication it takes to be crowned Mr. USU.
“I’m excited,” Ward said. “The boys have worked so hard, and I got to choreograph the opening number with them, so it was so fun to do that and then get to watch their progress and see it all come together. I’ve heard and talked to each of them a little bit about what they’re doing. I want to see them in their element, doing what they love. I love Mr. USU.”
The participants also shared what they put into their prep time.
Mr. Greek, better known on campus as Brandon Sorensen, said his preparation involved a lot of hard work practicing dancing in the “rain” and trying on fabulous costumes for his own rendition of Tom Holland’s viral Lip Sync Battle performance of “Singing in the Rain” mashed up with “Umbrella.”
“I have sweated in places I didn’t know I could sweat,” Sorensen said. “We’ve tried on 12 different costumes, choreographed over 10 hours.”
Christian Stewart, running as Mr. NR, sings self-written “Mr. USU Pie”, a parody of the song “American Pie”, by Don McLean.
Other candidates performed different talents, including poetry reading from Ezra Blake as Mr. Ag and a hip-hop dance number from Isaac Ngatuvai as Mr. Diversity.
Nathan Ahlstrom, representing his college as Mr. Art, demonstrated three separate skills.
“I have three different talents,” Ahlstrom said. “First talent is a nice handstand singing a song, second talent is playing the harmonica, ‘Big Rock Candy Mountain,’ and third talent is a quick sketch.”
The pageant allows the contestants to show off their senses of humor and personalities. Some more unconventional segments included a lesson on LinkedIn from Mr. Business, Brad Sullivan, and a presentation with a twist from Mr. Education, Rudy Garcia.
“Figuring out what my talent was going to be was a lot of fun,” Garcia said. “It’s kind of goofy, but it’s going to be ‘Hot or Not?’ with famous mathematicians.”
But the contestants weren’t the only people putting in time and effort. Ashlynn Smith, this year’s director, put the show together and kept it running smoothly.
“I applied to be director, and I’m fulfilling my dreams,” Smith said. “Directing a bunch of Kens in pink shorts and white shirts, telling them how to dance and having them wear bedazzled pink ascots.”
With all the sweat, sparkles and silliness, the job of deciding the next Mr. USU could not be an easy one. Luckily, the judges panel was excited to see the show and had criteria in mind for their perfect Mr. USU.
Ethan Thomas, Mr. USU 2022, served as a judge this year and shared what his ideal successor is like.
“They’ve got to be really charismatic and have a lot of fun,” Thomas said. “But I also really, really like people who love other people. So as long as they’re here to give the audience a show first and have me judge them second, they’re going to do really well.”
Stratford Needham, another judge, said even though it was his first experience with Mr. USU, he felt ready and delighted to see the show.
“I’m so excited,” Needham said. “This will be a first for me, so I’m kind of in suspense right now, but I’m so excited to see what they have.”
Some of the judges had previous pageant experience. Now a program coordinator with the Student Involvement & Leadership Center, Kennedy Thurgood planned similar events at Utah Tech University. She said she was thrilled to be on the other side of things and judge the pageant.
Even though the contestants are all competing, they’ve become friends and loved getting to know each other.
“I love this university, and there’s nothing better, I think, to do with my time than spend it with a bunch of uplifting dudes,” Ngatuvai said.
Henry Greene, also known as Mr. CHaSS, shared the sentiment.
“I just really wanted to be around a solid group of guys and get to really know my school. I love USU, and I just want to show that,” Greene said.
Sorensen said Mr. USU lets many parts of campus be represented, and the pageant is a great way to bond with people from all over campus he might not have met without it.
After contestants completed their opening number, talents and formal walks, the Utah State Dance Company performed a number, and Thomas revived his crown-winning tap dance routine from last year while the votes were counted.
People’s Choice was decided by whichever candidate received the most likes on their picture on the USUSA Events Instagram page. This year’s recipient was Ahlstrom.
The next award was Mr. Congeniality, which was voted on by the participants; the title was awarded to Greene.
Finally, 2nd attendant and 1st attendant were announced as Christian Stewart, Mr. Natural Resources, and Ngatuvai, respectively.
As the contestants did one final drumroll, the winner was announced as Mr. Involvement, Jake Russell, who was elated to be able to represent his school and receive the prestigious title.
Russell shared his final thoughts for the night after he and the guys shared a group hug.
“This is insane,” Russell said. “The Ken-ergy is immaculate right now. It’s so awesome, I feel so good being up here.”