Matt Logan crowned as Mr. Richmond 2014

Matt Logan, a sophomore in Sigma Phi Epsilon, won the title of Mr. Richmond 2014 after walking the runway in his fraternity shirt, playing the guitar, singing a mash up of three music hits and sharing his life motto.

"I was really happy to have won," Logan said. "I'd just like to thank the guys in [Sigma Phi Epsilon] who came out and really supported."

The Mr. Richmond pageant is SpiderBoard's annual event in which men from Richmond College compete to be crowned in three categories including introduction, talent and an interview session. This year was the third annual pageant and seven men competed, each representing different campus organizations.

"It's a fun event and very silly," said Kerry Fankhauser, associate dean of Westhampton College and a judge of the pageant.

The participants walked down the runway in an outfit of their choice for the introduction, while junior Chloe Zung, SpiderBoard president, shared a few facts about each of them. For the talent and interview portion, the contestants changed into formal wear.

"Mr. Richmond was very entertaining," said Sarah Steppacher, a junior who attended the pageant. "The questions were really funny, especially since they required the contestants to think fast on their feet. The creative acts were definitely the best."

Logan received a crown, scepter, Mr. Richmond 2014 sash and a $50 gift card to Nike. Clay Helms, a junior in Kappa Alpha Order and editor-in-chief of The Collegian, and Oliver Lee, a sophomore in Lambda Chi Alpha, were voted second and third place, respectively.

Helms played the piano and sang an original song, while Lee sang "Butterfly" by Jason Mraz. Helms won a $25 gift card to Papa John's and Lee won a $15 gift card to Starbucks.

"It was a rush standing up on stage in a '90s windbreaker and pink short shorts," Lee wrote in an email. "It was pretty exhilarating to hear the crowd erupt when I was introduced and I had a lot of fun on stage!"

Taylor Beckingham of Theta Chi, Matthew Groff of the cross-country and track teams and ROTC, Vern Van Oot of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Jonathon Wilmot of Sigma Chi also competed in the pageant.

"I thought the event was a lot of fun! I was certainly glad I participated," Groff wrote in an email. "Hats off to the winner, who fully deserved the title of Mr. Richmond. Matt's a great guy who really represents what it means to be a Richmond College Man."

A panel of five judges scored each contestant on a scale from one to 10 in the three categories and the scores were tallied to find the winner. The judges included Fankhauser, Dan Fabian, associate dean of Richmond College, Julian Hayter, assistant professor of Leadership Studies, Cynthia McMillan, manager of member services at the Weinstein Center for Recreation and Wellness, and Meg Pevarski, assistant director of Greek Life.

"We tried to pick notable figures on campus to judge the event," Zung said, "and people who we knew would be funny and who are comfortable with student life outside of the classroom."

Jillian Ertel, junior and SpiderBoard chair of campus traditions, hosted this year's pageant.

"The event went really well," Ertel said. "We increased our turnout from last year and had the most contestants we've had so it was a huge success."

Contact reporter Meghan Cummings at meghan.cummings@richmond.edu