Mr. Jumbo Personified

Lights, camera, action! Get ready for Tufts' first ever Mr. Jumbo competition. Does he know the capital of Chile? What would he do to enhance the Tufts Community? What are his special talents? Find out at the Mr. Jumbo competition in which 20 young gentlemen from the Tufts community will be showcasing their talents, wit, and wisdom, battling it out until one is ultimately crowned as the ultimate Mr. Jumbo.

The Mr. Jumbo Competition is a product of collaborative efforts from the Sophomore Class Council in conjunction with the Tufts Spirit Coalition. Together, they collectively proposed the idea to the Tufts administration. The event was initially created as an act to bring the Tufts community closer together. Stephanie Anastapoules, a member of the Sophomore Class Council, hopes the event will raise school spirit, promote unity within the Tufts' classes, and "address the issue of community building."

Additionally, the event also aims to give students some comic relief during a stressful part of the academic year. One of the principle goals of the event is to "unite the four classes" according to Joe Weiner, Sophomore Class Council President. The event is open for any student; however, there are no females participating in the event. The organizers said that there were some female nominees but none accepted the nomination to perform in the competition tonight at 9 p.m. in Cohen Auditorium.

The event is hoped to be a success and is based on research conducted by the Sophomore Class Council. Similar events put on by other universities and colleges have been remarkably well received and Weiner anticipates a "full house" on Thursday night. The organizers have hopes to that this first Mr. Jumbo event will be the premiere of a series of annual competitions.

The event will not just be showcasing the Mr. Jumbo Competition. There will also be dance performances by SOC and the orchestra will be present to provide additional entertainment.

The Mr. Jumbo competition is scheduled to open with a short choreographed dance, involving the 20 Mr. Jumbo competitors. This will mark the first round of elimination. The judges, composed by an array of faculty, administration, and students, will then eliminate the competitors down to 15.

The Mr. Jumbo Competition will then move into the fashion competition, in which there are two categories: Jumbo spirit and Thursday night wear. Get ready to see these potential Mr. Jumbo's bust out with brown and blue and keep your eyes open for creative, catchy night wear.

Spirit of Color is then scheduled to interlude with two dances including the all-male dance group and a bongo dance. The competition will then feed into the trivia round, in which all remaining contestants will be asked 3 trivia questions ranging from medium to difficult levels. These questions will cover everything from quantum physics to Chinese translations. The contestants are not expected to know the answers, but rather they will be judged upon their "creativity in answering" according to Weiner.

The five remaining contestants will then perform their talents. Each performer will be given five minutes to display his talent. The talents are rumored to range from guitar and piano interludes to other more 'original' talents, which have yet to be publicly claimed. As senior participant Randy Newsom states "it's going to be a fun night." He specified that his talent involves "water drinking names."

The suspense is on. Who does the Tufts community think is the ultimate Mr. Jumbo?