Scroll through to discover the characters and charismatic personalities ready to take the stage at the Georgetown Program Board’s 2019 Mr. Georgetown pageant. Meet all the candidates representing your favorite clubs as you prepare to purchase tickets to the most anticipated event of the year.
Name: Larry Taylor the Third Club: African Society at Georgetown School: COL Studying: Government and African American Studies Hometown: Dallas, Texas
What is the best thing about the African Society at Georgetown?
ASG is the best club because of the energy and the type of work that they do. I think it’s important for the community. And it represents not just some specific cultural form of representation from just one specific ethnicity, but the entire continent of Africa. I think that that’s something that could be embodied and, you know, represented throughout Georgetown.
What item do you bring from home every time you come to Georgetown?
My great grandfather’s ring. He just passed away in February. And so I recently received one of the rings that he had since like 1960, 1970. I feel like that’s something that’s always close to home. Even though I don’t wear it as much as I should, it’s something that’s always precious.
What fictional character best represents you?
I can give you so many responses. I could give the nerdy response and I’d say, Naruto Uzumaki from, you know, this animated show. I feel like he best represents me just because I feel like his moral principle and believing in himself—it’s something that I try to strive towards in my everyday endeavors. I feel like if I don’t believe in myself then, what are you doing?
Name: Ben Ulrich Club: Pep Band School: SFS Studying: Science, Technology and International affairs Hometown: Carlisle, PA
What makes Pep Band the best club?
I think Pep Band is the best club because it’s such a welcoming club. There’s no official process, you just show up, bring your instrument and if you don’t have one they will give you one. As long as you can blow into that thing, hit the drum, you’re in. I play the trumpet.
What is your Georgetown superpower based on the Voice’s Page 3 quiz?
Mostly Ds. Surprise! Your flex now works at any location of your choosing. Bon appetit!
Who is your favorite faculty member at Georgetown?
It’s a hard choice. I have like a couple. I really love Sarah Johnson. She teaches this environmental geoscience class and she’s so, so cool, she works for NASA, she has designed parts of the Mars Rover. When I had a class, she was like, ‘Oh yeah, I’m gonna be gone this weekend. Gonna be in Pasadena working on the astrobiology part of the Mars Rover.’ She’s just so cool but she’s also super thoughtful.
Bonus: Do you think that trumpet players have a characteristic personality, like a stereotype?
Yes, they’re stereotypically very loud and that’s usually accurate.
Name: Chris Warren Club: “Uh, I’m actually representing two clubs. Uh, Mr. Yale Volleyball and, uh, also Mr. Nomadic Theatre.” (officially Mr. Nomadic Theater) School: COL Studying: “Triple majoring” in volleyball, theater, and classics Hometown: South Pasadena, California
What makes your club the best club? We know your situation makes it harder for you to answer this
No, it’s difficult because they’re both the best club. You know, I love Yale. I’m currently wearing two Yale shirts, so that just… Really trumps nomadic theater I think, unfortunately. It’s a great student theater club full of creativity and passion for good art. But you know, Yale Volleyball’s going to take the cake every time.
If you could bring back any fashion trend, what would it be?
The fashion trend in our musical Firebringer, which is prehistoric garb. A lot of animal skins and, uh, organic leaves, pieces of nature cobbled together.
Name: Andrew Orbe Club: GU Riqueza Dominicana School: SFS Studying: International Politics, minor in Spanish Hometown: Cape Coral, Florida—currently Fort Lauderdale, Florida
What makes GU Riqueza Dominicana the best club?
We aren’t just a club for Dominican’s—fun fact: I’m not even actually Dominican, I’m Ecuadorian. What brought me to GU Riqueza Dominicana was the celebration of what it means to be Latinx, and especially what it means to be Afro-Latinx on this campus and the intersection between being black and being Latinx. And just how that can play out, both on this campus and in D.C., in the United States. We host a lot of great events, just talking about what Latinidad means. And we also have bomb-ass food, that we have at every single one of our events. Dominican food is probably the best food.
Why do you think you are going to win Mr. Georgetown?
Dominican Hispanics, we got moves. We’re great on the dance floor. I’m going to wipe the floor with all these people when it comes to that group dance, and when it comes to spirit wear and talent. I just got the rhythm. I was born with it. It’s that kind of feeling.
What fictional character best represents you?
Ginny Weasley, from Harry Potter. Ginny, she doesn’t take shit. She’s a badass, she does her thing and you know—I think the books wrote her so well. I think the movies shafted her, but I think in the books, she took no shit. She was her own person. She was amazing and magic and just all that. So she’s the person that I would want to be and she’s a person I hope represents me.
Name: Harrison Hurt Club: The Hoya School: SFS Studying: International Political Economy
What makes The Hoya the best club?
I think we got the chance to work on really cool stories and have a lot of fun while doing it.
What fictional character best represents you?
Scott Pilgrim.
What fashion trend do you want to bring back?
Honestly, none of them. I think all the old fashion trends are bad-looking. We don’t need them.
Name: Kevin Berning Club: Georgetown University Grilling Society School: COL Studying: Philosophy Hometown: Aiken, South Carolina
What makes GUGS the best club?
There’s no entrance requirements at all. That’s one of the things that drew me to it in the first place, is that you just join by showing up. I think given the stress culture and pure professionalism that tends to surround a lot of clubs on campus, it’s really kind of a breath of fresh air when your entire involvement with the club is just showing up and grilling a burger and hanging out with people.
What fictional character best represents you?
Kronk, from the Emperor’s New Groove. I think my two favorite parts from it, that I related most to Kronk, are one, where he goes to the restaurant and accidentally ends up becoming the chef for the restaurant until Yzma pulls him out, and two, when Yzma drags him to Pacha’s house to try to find Pacha and the emperor. Yzma gets kinda kicked out and turned into a piñata and Kronk is just best friends with the whole family by the time he leaves.
What is your favorite item from home that you bring to school every year?
I have this Ukulele that I got off my dad because he kept it in their closet for forever. He got it when he was like 11 from a Sears catalog, and now I am playing it every now and then, about 50 years later.
Name: Norman Francis Jr. Club: GUSA School: COL Studying: Government and African-American studies Hometown: Roswell, Georgia
What makes GUSA the best club?
Is that the assumption that we’re going into? I mean I don’t necessarily think my club is the best. I think my club is good though, or can be good. My club has the potential for good and one reason for that is, GUSA sort of acts as a bridge. It allows for students to get more interaction with administrators, and I believe it works as a body that both represents and speaks for students, and acts as a microphone for students and student voices, as well as holding different bodies accountable—whether that be Georgetown administrators, GUSA individuals themselves, or other students.
What is your favorite item that you bring from home every year?
I guess I like my briefcase.
What fashion trend do you want to bring back?
The 2020s are coming up, so if you go 1920s and everybody’s wearing whole-ass suits—everybody. I think that’d be wild, that’d be nice.
Name: Mason Cantu Club: Alpha Phi Omega School: COL Hometown: Various places in South Texas Studying: Government with minors in Theology and Computer Science
What makes APO the best club?
It combines everything a club would actually want. In one part we’re focused on service. We have a bunch of service projects that we go on, and that are actually impactful to the DC community—and you get to do it with your best friends. What’s better than that? And you create best friends while having a purpose while at Georgetown—that isn’t just doing classes and work and that kind of stuff. And it stays with you for the rest of your life.
What fictional character best represents you?
If Ron Swanson was a small boy from Texas.
If you were to time travel, would you go forward or backward in time?
Ideally, I’d like to go forward, but you know, it’s both scary and you have to see if there is a forward. I think I’d rather go forward than backward because there’s not really great times for a lot of people in the past.
Name: Casey Jones Hammond Club: Georgetown Superfood School: COL Studying: Government, minors in Education and Theology Hometown: Hamilton, Montana
What makes Superfood the best club?
Well everyone on this campus loves avocados. That’s a big thing. And they all love music, so the combination of the two just makes sense.
Who is your favorite faculty member at Georgetown?
Frederick Ruf in the Theology department. He was my Problem of God professor and he pitched the idea of either minoring or double majoring in government and theology, and it’s been the most wonderful experience.
If you could bring back a fashion trend, what would it be?
Bow ties. Big bow tie fan.
Name: Forrest Gertin Club: SFS Academic Council School: SFS Studying: International Political Economy Hometown: Rochester, New York
What makes the SFS Academic Council the best club?
I bet we’re the only one representing a school that’s been doing foreign service for a hundred years now. Pretty excited about the Centennial, our gala weekend and Dip Ball. I also think we’re one of the only true advocacy organizations represented. Some of the things advocated for include adding new furniture in the ICC Galleria, getting the Hindi language program to proficiency, and getting minors for SFS students. I think the academic council does a lot of work that really impacts the student experience at Georgetown.
What is your Georgetown superpower based on the Voice’s Page 3 quiz?
Mostly Bs. You can safely digest any Leo’s food. Food poisoning be gone!
Why do you think you’re going to win?
I think I’m the one who’s got the most passion for all of the dancing that we’re going to do. I think that’s going to carry me to the finish line.
Name: Noah Telerski Club: The Georgetown Voice School: COL Studying: Government, minor in Economics Hometown: Nashua, New Hampshire
What makes the Voice the best club?
It’s a really cool group of people, and I’ve gotten the opportunity to cover a lot of cool stuff, write some really interesting stories, and do things that I wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise if I wasn’t here. And I think the Voice is an important part of campus because it’s like a newspaper, and these papers are important. So is writing about issues that students don’t necessarily know about. Making sure people are informed about what’s going on is important.
What is one of your favorite items from home that you always bring to campus?
It’s my guitar, I like to play music and I like to practice. I guess the banjo is also up there for the same reason, but it’s more fun.
What fictional character best represents you?
Ferris Bueller’s friend, Cameron, from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986). He doesn’t want to get in any trouble and kind of gets reluctantly dragged along for some adventures. I think that kind of sums up my friends who are on campus.
Name: Gabriel Berkowitz
Club: Mask & Bauble Theater Club School: MSB Studying: Marketing and Management, with a minor in Theater and Performance Studies. Hometown: West Hempstead, New York
What makes Mask & Bauble the best club?
Because no matter what you’re interest is, there’s something for you to do in M&B. If you’re someone who likes to be on stage and likes attention, that’s something for you. If you’re someone who likes to be quietly artistic and contribute but not necessarily be the center of attention, there’s a lot to do also. And if you just like to consume art, we’re the best club for that also.
What is the most recent song you added to your music playlist?
Probably “Motivation” by Normani.
Why do you think you’re going to win?
I don’t know, because I’m different. I don’t know why I’m going to win. Because I am so likable and I’m a good performer. Yeah. I think there are a lot of reasons and you’ll see why.
Name: Ethan Knecht Club: Georgetown University Dance Company School: SFS Studying: International Politics and Latin American studies Hometown: Metuchen, New Jersey
What makes Georgetown University Dance Company the best club?
Everyone’s really talented dancers, they love expressing themselves through dance. They’re very creative people, and also just really fun. We spend a lot of time together, we’re in the studio 10, 12 hours a week together, and there’s no one I’d rather hang out with from three o’clock to five o’clock on a Saturday.
What is the last song you added to your music library?
“Lip Gloss” by Lil Mama.
If you could bring back any fashion trend, what would it be?
Raccoon hats. I feel like those would be really nice in the winter. It gets cold here, so that’d be awesome.
Name: Christian Trotti Club: Ballroom Dancing School: SFS Studying: International Politics with a concentration in International Security. Hometown: Queens, New York
What makes Ballroom Dancing the best club?
I think it’s because we just do a full gamut of really fun activities, whether it comes to social dancing—which is my favorite part—or lessons, where you get to perfect your craft. And there’s a competitive element in competitions that we do. So it just has a lot that you could do to satisfy different activities.
What fashion trend you want to bring back?
Cargo shorts. They’re just great. I’m very easy to please when it comes to clothing. I just want something that has a lot of utility and that’s it.
What is your Georgetown superpower based on the Voice’s Page 3 quiz?
Mostly As. You have control over rats. Powerful allies are in your corner, lurking in the shadows, ready to snatch any wig.
Name: Miguel Ojeda Club: Club Soccer School: COL Studying: Government Hometown: San Diego, California
What makes Club Soccer the best club?
My club is the best club because it brings a bunch of people from different backgrounds together, and they do what they love and we’re a family.
Who is your favorite faculty member at Georgetown?
I would say it’s Professor Arsenault. She is a professor in the SFS. She is pretty great. I mean for every single class, she knows her students’ names on the first day.
What is your favorite item from home that you bring every year?
My PS4? Haha. Hold on, let me think. A picture of my family.
Name: Derron Payne Club: Male Development Association School: MSB Studying: Management and Marketing, with a minor in Entrepreneurship Hometown: Brooklyn, New York
What makes the Male Development Association the best club?
We’re really influencing the lives of a lot of the youth in the neighborhood. So we go to a local high school, Duke Ellington, and we mentor some of the kids there and help them get ready for college. It feels really good and it feels like we’re helping a lot of people. We also mentored some middle school kids last year too, so that was a lot of fun.
Who is your favorite faculty member?
I feel like professor-wise, um, Professor Bies and Professor Koester. Those two have had a huge impact on my life, and just some of the cool things I’ve been able to do. They opened up my mind. And then all of my deans. I don’t want to leave anyone out, so all of my deans.
What is a favorite item from home that you always bring to campus?
Not counting my Playstation, probably my basketball. Basketball has always been a huge part of my life growing up. And I had this really huge pivot, but it’s still something I hold near and dear to my heart, so I always have my basketball.
Name: Jack Reichert Club: GUerrilla Improv School: SFS Studying: Global Business Hometown: Houston, TX
What makes GUerrilla Improv the best club?
I think of GUerrilla Improv as a really supportive family. We do comedy; we do improv; we have an obvious mission, which is getting diversity into comedy, but I think at the end of the day the most important thing for the club is to be there for one another, and to form friendships and bonds in a way that is just really loving.
Who is your favorite faculty member?
Professor Glavin. He’s my screenwriting professor. He’s always real with you.
Why do you think you’re going to win?
I think I’m going to win because I really want to win for the club. I want people to know that GUerrilla is good, and I want alumni to be like, that’s cool, the club I started just won Mr. Georgetown. And I always do my best when I do something for someone else, and I think that my best effort will be brought out through that. I also love ABBA.
Name: Zach Gallin Club: Running Club School: SFS Studying: STIA Hometown: Irvington, New York
What makes Running Club the best club?
Running Club is the best club because there is no application or cuts. Anyone who wants can come and run with us. It’s just a super fun time every day of the week.
What meme best represents you?
I’m a cat one. I don’t know which cat one. Maybe all of them.
If you could bring back any fashion trend, what would it be?
Definitely something from the ’80s. I think running in leg warmers would look super cool and everyone should do it.
Name: Brendan Clark Club: Club Rock Climbing School: COL Studying: English, Government, and Climbing Hometown: Rockville, Maryland
What makes Club Rock Climbing the best club?
We’ve been acknowledged the best club, we’re the most humble. Good vibes, the most attractive people on campus.
What meme best represents you?
Do you know the cat at the dinner table that’s really confused? Or you know from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Mac is like “through God all things are possible.”
If you could bring back any fashion trend, what would it be?
I’d definitely try to bring back the NBA basketball short-shorts, those are the greatest. Those are really awesome.
Matt Buckwald was unable to attend the meeting with the other candidates, but he sent in his answers and photo via email.
Name: Matt Buckwald Club: Senior Class Committee School: COL Studying: Government & Arabic Hometown: Trumbull, Connecticut
What makes the Senior Class Committee the best club?
The SCC is all about community. We throw parties and events for the sole purpose of our class coming together to celebrate ourselves and our Georgetown careers. Plus, the SCC is essentially University-sponsored drinking. Who else can say that?
Why do you think you are going to win?
Mostly because I’m hilarious, but also because I’m hot.
If you could bring back any trend, what would it be?
Either Silly Bandz or the I <3 Boobiez bracelets
That’s it! We’ll see you on Oct. 11 to watch these men dazzle us and vie for our hearts (we like Mr. the Voice the best)!
