Strutting their stuff for a good cause, eight men battled for the prestigious title of Mr. Gustavus on the evening of Thursday, March 13.

The group, all juniors and seniors, were nominated by fellow students during a week of tabling.

For nearly ten years the event has been sponsored by the local Theta Xi Gamma Sorority during the annual Theta Week, which also included window-painting, a recruitment event, and a benefit.  All proceeds went toward “Miracles of Mitch,” a Minnesota-based group which provides financial support to families of children with cancer.

Participants in the Mr. Gustavus Pageant are selected based off of the greatest number of nominations. Additional efforts are made during selection to ensure diverse campus representation through the contestants.

Seniors Justin Feit, Torey Asao, Andrew Choquette, and Mitch Moore, and Juniors Tommy Panetti, Nate Paulsen, Jack Healy, and Matt Timmons were selected as competitors.

The selected judges were Interim Assistant Director of Campus Activities Brittany Salsman, Theta Xi Gamma Sorority adviser Emily Thayer, and English Professor Sean Cobb. Thetas Delaney Sweet and Meishon Behboudi served as emcees.

The pageant kicked off in the Evelyn Young Dining Room as the men represented their varied campus involvement through individually selected “Gustie-wear” while performing a dance choreographed by Samara Lenort and Thetas Public Relations and Visibility Co-Chair Courtney Harbeck.

Following the dance portion, the contestants shared their individual talents.

Thetas Public Relations and Visibility Co-Chair Grace Haugen laughed when asked prior to the event about the talent portion of the competition.

“Honestly, it’s up to them. As long as it’s appropriate we allow them to do it,” Haugen said.

Though she admitted that in general the talents “are weird this year.”

The men presented a variety of musical performances, stand-up comedy, a demonstration of pick-up lines, impressions, and a creative display of pizza consumption.

The evening concluded with a series of questions for each contestant, including prompts to relate embarrassing moments and experiences at the Dive.

Ultimately, Nate Paulsen earned the judges’ favor and was named Mr. Gustavus, while Tommy Panetti was named Mr. Philanthropy in recognition of collecting the highest donation in the week leading up to the event.

Paulsen’s performance of “Let It Go,” from Frozen with an altered verse to reflect the Gustavus experience won major points with the crowd and with the judges. Paulsen reflected on his musical selection.

“With people like Matt Timmons, Jack Healy, and Justin Feit, so basically half of LineUs, I wasn’t going to win in the funny department,” Paulsen said, adding that he opted to try to win over the audiences’ hearts instead.

Paulsen said that he was “shocked” and “honored” that he won, and reflected on the preparation for the pageant.

“The rehearsal for the dance was the best part. You put a bunch of really goofy guys in a room and try to teach them how to dance. There’s really nothing better,” Paulsen said.

Following the event, one of the judges joked about the experience.

“[Judging was] so much pressure I hardly slept last night,” he said.

Cobb also commented on the contrast between the objectification of women in traditional beauty pageants and the way events like Mr. Gustavus mock such practices.

“I don’t think most contestants take it tremendously seriously, and I try not to take it too seriously, and it’s all in kind of good fun,” Cobb said.

Though this was Haugen’s last year organizing the event, she said that she feels confident leaving it with her co-chair in the future.

Paulsen thanked the Theta Xi Sorority for their efforts and recognized their philanthropic efforts for “Miracles of Mitch.”

“Shout out to all the Thetas, they did an amazing job putting this together, I had an absolute blast,” Paulsen said.