Mr. UMD Brings in $2,232 for Charity

(Samantha Elliott / MJ)

BY SAMANTHA ELLIOTT, Editor-in-Chief

Last Thursday, Phi Mu hosted their tenth annual Mr. UMD contest, benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

The event, which took place in Quad E in Fairlane Center North, attracted an audience of both sorority and fraternity members as well as parents of students involved in the event.

The night consisted of six rounds of events, including beachwear, formal attire, and talent rounds. Cheers erupted from the crowd several times throughout the night. Fan favorites included Franco Xavier Del Valle Calderon’s beach wear round during which he dressed as a hula dancer, complete with grass skirt and coconut bra.

(Samantha Elliott / MJ)

The talent round brought another round of cheers from the crowd when Abdul-Rahman Shukairy completed a Rubiks Cube that had been mixed up by the judges while held upside down and singing Zac Brown Band’s “Chicken Fried.”

Each round was scored by a panel of judges. The panel included the UM-Dearborn Greek life advisor, Tasha Williams, Panhellenic advisor Lynda Dioszegi, Associate Director CMNH at Beaumont Hospital Katherine Groves, and Phi Mu-Rho Beta Alumna Mary Schuler and Phylis Cataldo.

Mr. UMD is Phi Mu’s largest philanthropy event and included several raffles throughout the night. Local businesses showed their support by donating items for gift baskets or gift cards. Proceeds from the raffles went towards the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Phi Mu-Rho Beta’s money raised benefited Beaumont in Royal Oak specifically.

Phi Mu philanthropy community head, Melanie Parker takes pride in giving back directly to the community.

“All of the money raised goes directly to our local hospital at Beaumont. It all stays within our community where it is donated,” Parker said.

Additional money came in the form of the audience donating directly to the participants. Attendees were able to drop money into buckets for their favorite contestants. The top three who raised the most money got an additional five, three, or one point added to their total points from the judges.

The top three contestants were Calderon, Julius Ennis, and Stevan Miller. Calderon won the title of Mr. UMD.

Phi Mu Vice President Megan Peters was pleased with the turnout of another successful event for the fraternity.

“Mr. UMD is always our most anticipated and favorite event. Not only is it awesome to raise money for CMNH, I love how entertaining the guys are up there,” Peters said.

Nationally, Phi Mu has raised over eight million dollars through their charity events. Thursday’s event brought in $2,232.