“Save a Lime scooter, ride a Mr. Georgetown”: Seventeen men fight for the crown at Mr. Georgetown 2026

Under Gaston Hall’s neon stage lights, 17 cowboy-hat-clad men took the stage on Oct. 2 to compete for the iconic title of Mr. Georgetown 2026 in front of over 700 audience members.

The Georgetown Program Board (GPB) organizes the long-standing annual pageant featuring male senior representatives from various student organizations duking it out for the Mr. Georgetown crown. After being nominated by their fellow club members last May, the “Misters” dedicated countless hours toward planning and rehearsal to become pageant-ready and vie for the favor of judges and audience members on Homecoming eve.

The full contestant list can be found on the GPB Instagram page.

GPB members Dori Rosenstrauch (CAS ’27) and Lily Carroll (MSB/CAS ’29) emceed the event, riffing off one another to keep crowd energy high all night. They opened the evening by announcing the contestants as they ran onstage, all sporting cowboy hats and white t-shirts decorated to represent their respective organizations. 

After introductions came a Western-inspired whole-group dance number choreographed by members of student dance group Groove Theory. The light-hearted, promiscuous performance featured elaborate footwork, gymnastics, lots of power-posing, and even more hip-shaking.

 Photo by Sophie Pilgrim

“I don’t know about you guys, but I have absolutely nothing appropriate to say right now,” Rosenstrauch said.

The Georgetown Phantoms, an all-gender student a capella group, followed the dance number with a performance of the “Mr. Georgetown Anthem.” To the amusement of audience members, the lyrics include lines like: “He’s talented / Looks good in a speedo / The hottest guy we know.”

Next up was the spiritwear showcase, in which each Mister modeled an outfit representing their student organization. The fashion show featured, among many, Mr. Pep Band Nate Morris (CAS ’27) dancing to “Rasputin” while drumming, Mr. BMDT (Black Movements Dance Theatre) Aiden Munroe (CAS ’27) voguing his way across the stage, Mr. French Cultural Association Luke Landegger (MSB ’27) tossing pieces of bread into the audience, and Mr. Club Filipino Mark Manaois (SFS ’27), whose rhinestone-bedazzled biceps shone across Gaston Hall. 

Carroll and Rosenstrauch then invited Groove Theory onstage for an energetic group hip-hop performance before transitioning into the talent portion of the pageant. Out of the 17 fantastic acts, the Voice selected a few favorites.

Inviting the rest of the singing group onstage, Mr. Capitol G’s Christian Smith (CAS ’27) did an a cappella rendition of “Stacy’s Mom”. It wasn’t entirely a cappella, however, as Smith accompanied with a vigorous cymbal performance.

Mr. Moot Court Shemaiah DeJorge (CAS ’27) recited an original spoken word poem titled W.A.P.—Weird-Acting Presidents, in which he dramatically recounted the strange habits of many past American commanders-in-chief.

After promising to name 50 women off the top of his head, Mr. Philodemic Arthur Schneiders (CAS ’27) unfortunately only reached 44 before running out of allotted performance time. Some of the 44 included Virginia Woolf, Sabrina Carpenter, Sappho, Hillary Clinton, Taylor Swift (twice), and God.

In Dolly Parton-inspired drag, Mr. Phantoms Scottie Vandy (CAS ’27) lip synched to the recently departed legend’s hit song, “I Will Always Love You.” His look featured a voluptuous blonde wig paired with a shimmery, wing-like cape.

Despite the audience’s vehement applause for these acts, none of these Misters made the cut to the top four, which was chosen by the judging panel after the talent portion. The top four were, in no particular order:

Mr. GERMS Rico Chan (CAS ’27), who skillfully danced to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” among other songs. He performed alongside a few fellow EMTs, and they all danced while “treating” their patient, Mr. Club Filipino. At one point, Rosenstrauch quipped, “Does the devil wear Prada or a GERMS uniform?”

For Mr. Mask & Bauble Nate Findlay (CAS ’27), who belted a theater-kid classic, “Feeling Good,” singing well apparently wasn’t enough. He sang parts of the song while planking with another person standing on top of him or while being held upside down. And still, he was able to pipe out high notes and riffs.

Mr. DC Reads Eli Amos (CAS ’27) proved he was able to name any song in Kendrick Lamar’s discography within just a few seconds of listening. He blindfolded himself while naming songs played on shuffle, promising to do ten one-handed push-ups if he missed. On the last song, he “forgot” the name, and completed the ten push-ups to much applause.

Mr. GU Jawani Rishi Dinesh (SFS ’27) invited two other Jawani members for a Bhangra routine. The bass was loud, the choreography was energetic, and the crowd barely stopped cheering throughout the entire performance.

Carroll and Rosenstrauch took the stage again to commend the performers and to remind the audience, in unison, to “save a Lime scooter, ride a Mr. Georgetown.”

With the pool narrowed to the four finalists, their next task was a quick round of Georgetown- and cowboy-themed trivia led by the emcees. No clear leader emerged, with each contestant answering two or three of the four questions correctly.

Then, it was time for onstage, talk-show style interviews. The emcees asked Chan how he felt he had changed during his time at Georgetown.

“I smile a lot more,” he said. “GERMS is being there for someone’s, maybe, worst day at Georgetown.” 

He explained that, not only had Georgetown given him plenty to smile about, he had also learned the value of providing a comforting smile for others. Chan believes a smile can go a long way in scary situations, and it’s part of how he takes care of people as an EMT.

Next up, Findlay discussed the significance of Georgetown’s theater scene.

“[Theater] has made this place a home for me,” he said. “The one place where I feel really calm and really myself is when I’m performing.” 

Theater has provided Findlay with more than a creative outlet.

“This entire room is filled with that community,” Findlay said, gesturing to the audience, “and that’s how I feel walking around campus every day, and I wouldn’t have traded that for anything.”

During Amos’s interview, he reflected on the significance of the community tutoring program to him since his freshman year.

“I felt so unwilling to change who I was. That really changed when I became a DC Reads tutor,” he said. 

He also stressed that his role as a tutor was not to fix a problem, but to engage with and learn from people different from him.

“Here’s hoping that, by showing up, I can become a real member of the community,” Amos said.

Up last was Dinesh, who was asked to share his least favorite thing about Georgetown.

“I hate the Georgetown intro,” Dinesh said. “I don’t think it teaches you anything about the other person.”

He explained that he felt prioritizing the surface level questions “where are you from?” and “what’s your major?” only contribute to Georgetown’s aggressive pre-professional focus, inhibiting students’ ability to see one another as whole individuals.

“We don’t ask any of the interesting questions I would love to get to know about someone,” Dinesh said.

After the interviews, there was a brief intermission for the judging panel, which included two Georgetown professors and last year’s Mr. Georgetown champion, Saatvik Kaul (SFS ’26), to convene. Audience members were invited to digitally vote for Mr. Fan Favorite. Additionally, the contestants themselves voted on a Mr. Congeniality, the person among the group who best exemplified kindness and camaraderie.

After over three hours of competition, the emcees took the stage to announce the winners. Munroe was crowned Mr. Congeniality, and Chan was voted Mr. Fan Favorite.

Finally, Mr. GU Jawani Rishi Dinesh, was awarded the coveted Mr. Georgetown title. The runner-up was Mr. Mask & Bauble Nate Findlay, followed by Mr. GERMS Rico Chan in third and Mr. DC Reads Eli Amos in fourth.

Rishi Dinesh celebrates being crowned Mr. Georgetown  (Photo by Sophie Pilgrim)

Dinesh protected the Bhangra team’s claim to the title, after Jawani’s Kaul won the pageant in 2025.

“I’m feeling elated. I’m feeling so grateful that we got to do this with all the other Misters. Just an incredible experience all around,” Dinesh told the Voice in a post-show interview. “It’s one of those college memories that you tell your kids 10 years later.”

According to GPB President Kira Casler (SFS ’27), the process before the pageant is what makes the show special.

“My favorite part of the evening is always seeing how all the Misters have grown to be friends,” Casler said. “Usually on the first day of dress rehearsal, some of them know each other, but they’re not all super close. 
And seeing by the end how they’re all able to dance together, laugh together, have fun together is always my favorite part.”

This brotherly bonding was exemplified behind the scenes by something as small as a wardrobe mishap, for instance. Dinesh shared that, after performing his talent in traditional South Asian dress, he could not find his dress pants backstage. Schneiders lent Dinesh his pair of performance tear-away pants for the rest of the show—an act that truly embodies the spirit of Mr. Georgetown. 

“Mr. Georgetown is a huge role,” Casler said. “For me, it’s someone who is very passionate about the communities that they’re a part of on campus, and also someone who bridges many communities, knows a lot of people, is a very welcoming, very big and important part of the community. And I think that all of these boys are great representations of Mr. Georgetown.”

Emcee Carroll shared her reflection on this year’s success.

“I think the Misters had a lot of fun,” Carroll said. “We had a lot of fun. The audience was really engaged, and so I think it went really well.”

Rosenstrauch echoed Carroll’s excitement for how the event turned out.

“It was so great to be a part of something that I feel encompasses all that Georgetown has to offer, and to learn about so many things that I honestly would not have known about, and should be spoken about more,” Rosenstrauch said. “It was incredible.”