By: Jasmine Saunders
It is common practice that the royalty of Historically Black Colleges and Universities compete to bear the title as sovereign over all other HBCU’s. It resembles Miss America pageants.
DSU’s king Aiah Senesie, will be continuing that tradition by competing in the 12th Annual Mr. HBCU Kings’ Leadership Conference and Competition February 3-7th, 2016 at Lincoln University in Missouri.
Before Mr. DSU can get the crown back to Delaware State, he must first perfect his performance so that he is ready for the show.
On the evening of January 21st, Mr. DSU held an event called “Reclaiming the Crown,” that would enable him to receive constructive criticism from peers and professionals on his talent for the competition.
John Smarsda, one of those that critiqued Senesie’s performance commented that he needed, “A little more command of current events.”
This wasn’t the only issue that was pointed out.
Ryane Cheatham, the Career Coach at DSU advised that Senesie needed to “Be himself and not hold back.”
All of these critiques served to be the “checks and balances,” as Mr. DSU himself reflected, on a performance that needs to make its mark on the audience at Lincoln University.
Those that critiqued had more than just constructive criticism to share about Mr. DSU’s performance, but about what he could bring to the Mr. HBCU title.
“He’ll come back and take a stand and help us to recognize the pride,” hypothesized Paula Duffy, the Director in the Office of Student Judicial Affairs.
Cheatham shared her thoughts on what Mr. DSU can bring to the role: “[He] can project a positive image on what the upcoming African American generations are going to look like professionally.”
Finally, the king himself spoke on some of the issues he would address should he get the title: “Retention, retention, and retention.”
Aiah Senesie will be the third Delaware State University king to try and reclaim the crown back home since former Mr. DSU 2011-12 Justin Caesar won the Mr. HBCU back in 2012.
Categories: Campus News