THE QUEENS REMIX: Miss Men’s Federation Pageant

In a bold and unconventional celebration of masculinity, the Southern University Men’s Federation hosted the Miss Men’s Federation Pageant, where seven courageous women took center stage to embrace the theme of ‘Battle of the Barbies’ in a boxing-inspired spectacle that challenged traditional norms and ignited a spirited conversation about gender and empowerment. Junior business marketing major and the Men’s Federation Finance Director Ja’Mon Gracin expresses, “The concept came as a segue from Steele’s campaign last semester. His theme was boxing, and the Barbie movie just came out, so we combined the ideas. We just wanted to do something that hadn’t been done before.” Gracin said, “our pageant was just different. From the way everything tied together, the way the ladies bonded and the crowd participation. The pageant went very well in my eyes.”
The pageant had seven contestants all competing in their first campus pageant ever: Kamyrn Eugene, Senior fashion merchandising major; Jasmin Tobias, Senior Therapeutic Recreation major; Jehvana White, Senior Psychology major; Kennedy Clark, Senior Marketing major; Terren Thomas, Sophomore Criminal Justice major, Emmy Mgimwa Freshman Political Science major and Jazmon DeRousselle, Senior Mass Communication major. The ladies were tasked with competing in six rounds: career, school spirit, talent, swimwear, formal wear and interview.
The Event Center on campus was packed to maximum capacity to which of these ladies would take the Miss Men’s Federation crown. The crowd was sure to approve each contestant who graced the stage from round to round.
“Oohs” and “aahs” left the lips of the audience as they cheered on their favorite contestants. Intermissions performed by Code Blue Stomp n’ Shake cheerleaders and the Gold N’ Bluez dance team made sure to keep the crowd entertained at every opportunity. Danceline favorites such as “Flex” and “Can’t Get Enough” were certain to be played with the student body getting up and shuffling along with every step to each one. With the energy of the audience paired with the intensity of the contestants, the Men’s Federation Pageant would be sure to be remembered by students all throughout their time at Southern.
As the competition was just heating up, there was a mishap during the talent round. Contestant Kennedy Clark allegedly made a remark at the beginning of her talent which didn’t go over well with the crowd. The comments were believed to be made about Contestant Jehvana White. After the statement was made, a thunder of “Boo’s” rained from the crowd, which seemed to rush Clark off the stage in haste. In the interim of Clark being off stage, former Code Blue Advisor and pageant Judge, Nicolette Johnson, came to Clark’s defense, addressing the crowd by saying, “Listen, how you took it may have been negative, but she didn’t mean it in that way. So please, let’s respect everybody because we have to judge. Ok! And we are going to allow her to come back out so we can hear what she said.” Clark did return to the stage and was able to finish her talent.
Jehvana White, however, did release some statements via TikTok on her thoughts regarding Clark’s comment and the overall pageant. White states, “I don’t understand why I receive so much hate, and I will never do another pageant again.” White was very candid in her expressions; however, she has since removed the multiple posts from her TikTok platform. Ja’Mon Gracin was asked his opinion on how he felt about the mishap during the talent portion of the pageant and declined to comment on the incident. However, he said, “I want to shout out to the Men’s Fed Academy for all of their hard work making this pageant a success. We could not have done this without them.”
Despite the comments, the pageant was not halted and could be completed without further interruptions. Throughout the remaining rounds, the pageant ran smoothly and effectively with the attention of the Men’s Federation Cabinet. The students enjoyed their experience. India Moore, who is a sophomore majoring in bio pre-med, says, “This was a well-put-together event, really nice and entertaining. I enjoyed seeing all the girls’ talents. If I had to pick a favorite category, I enjoyed the most seeing them walk in the nightgowns.” Following deliberation from the judges, the first runner-up was awarded to Contestant number Seven, Jazmon DeRousselle from Houston, Texas and the new Miss Men’s Federation title was awarded to Contestant number 1, Kamryn Eugene from Lafayette, Louisiana. Congratulations to all the ladies on a job well done and Miss Kamryn Engene on her new title. Carry the crown well.