On Dec. 4, auditions for the annual Mr. and Miss Freshman Black Student Union pageant will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Holmes Student, according to the BSU event webpage. This event is an open audition for only freshman to attend; they will be auditioning for a spot in the 2019-2020 Mr. and Miss Freshman BSU pageant, according to the same webpage.

The pageant will fall on Feb. 29 to commemorate Black History Month, allowing enough time for the contestants to practice and rehearse in order to prepare themselves for the event on campus, Victor Owoeye, head coordinator of the pageant and senior journalism major, said.

The audition process is structured similarly to an interview, Owoeye said. Students describe what they are passionate about and how they can contribute to the community. Five male and five female student contestants are chosen to compete for a scholarship, as well as the title of Mr. and Miss Freshman BSU.

“[The pageant allows students to] build on different skills: communications skills, leadership skills, public speaking skills and presentation skills,” Owoeye said. “All of those things go into the pageant and it helps those students as freshman.

The goal of the pageant is to continue to increase leadership within the black community, Owoeye said.

“The biggest point of the pageant is to start [developing] leadership at the freshman stage instead of waiting for students to be juniors or seniors,” Owoeye said. “This helps to prepare [students] to mentor others that come in, which keeps the flow of leadership going and makes sure the black community is excelling, staying positive and always evolving.”

The BSU wants to keep this tradition going for as long as it can generate interest among active students.

“We refer to it as the legacy that we leave on campus,” Owoeye said.