Best Buddy Nick Flatt won the fourth annual Mr. Lipscomb Pageant Monday night in Shamblin Theater, hosted by Delta Omega to raise awareness for Best Buddies.
The pageant consisted of four categories: formal, cold-weather wear, talent and interview.
Mr. Lipscomb is Delta Omega’s spring fundraiser for its philanthropy, Best Buddies. It is a pageant style competition with around 20-25 male Lipscomb students who have volunteered to participate in the event.
It includes several rounds of competition such as formal wear, cold-weather wear, talent and questionnaire rounds. After each round, contestants are eliminated, bringing about the final winner who is crowned with the title of “Mr. Lipscomb.”
For Flatt’s talent, he sang “God Bless the Broken Road” by Rascal Flatts and received a standing ovation.
“I’m happy,” Flatt said. “My favorite part was when everyone stood up for me.”
Justin Cook was runner-up in the pageant. For his talent portion, he performed a rendition of Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On.”
“My favorite category is talent,” Cook said. “I have channeled my inner-Celine Dion for the past two years, and it is always a crowd favorite. I love making everyone laugh.”
There is also a Crowd Favorite award, and this year it went to Kasey Main. That award is given to the contestant that raises the most money in his specific jar, which people can donate to in the student center the entire week leading up to the event.
Best Buddies International is a nonprofit organization dedicated to establishing a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).
“Delta Omega wants to do everything we can to continue supporting the mission of Best Buddies and fostering meaningful relationships that have the potential to bless the lives of those with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families,” said Rebecca Shannon, Delta Omega’s Philanthropy Chair.
Several members of the Best Buddies program competed in the pageant, including Flatt, Collin Ransom, Bo Hoskins and Trey Tucker.
This year, Delta Omega raised over $1,600 for the Best Buddies program.
“I am really proud that we raised this much,” Shannon said. “We raised $1,080 last year and our goal was $1,200 this year.”
Photo by Grace Moore