HBCU Buzz – On Sunday, Feb. 9 a new Mr. HBCU was crowned at the 10th annual Kings’ Leadership Conference and Competition in Jefferson City, Missouri.
There was a lot of Buzz about the event on social media with the hashtag #KingsCOMP2014.
This year Anthony Hyland, Mr. Voorhees College, one of the 16 Kings represented from the nation’s 106 historically black colleges at the competition, was crowned Mr. HBCU 2014-2015.
Hyland, a senior mass communications major at Voorhees College, is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and has worked hard to “maintain high academic standards and personal development” at Voorhees, according to the school’s website.
Since his junior year he has served as president of his campus Alpha chapter and recently Hyland was a featured speaker at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Unity Breakfast at the Marine Corps Air Station Officers Club in Beaufort, S.C., held on Saturday, Jan. 11.
Hyland said on Instagram: “The work starts here.”
“After winning the pageant I decided to treat myself to a new pair of Beats!” he added in another Instagram post.
Participants arrived on the campus of Lincoln University in Missouri, the historically black university where leader of the Harlem Renaissance and poet Langston Hughes is a notable alumnus, on Wednesday, Feb. 5 to begin competition in the male’s version of the HBCU Queens pageant.
Eligible candidates were required to complete an application, a personal self-portrait form, and a talent profile and write a three minute speech on “The cornerstones of African American history and culture—Black males the catalyst for the survival of these great institutions” prior to the event.
All kings were judged on specific categories, including ease of manner, projection, talent and professional demeanor.
The winner of the pageant was awarded a $1,500.00 scholarship, sash, and trophy and of course, the 2014 Mr. HBCU title.
Last year Reginald Johnson of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, who Hyland thanked as a “dynamic advisor,” claimed victory at the 2013 Mr. HBCU pageant.
“All of our Kings did a phenomenal job ladies and gentlemen let’s celebrate them as well,” said Hyland on an Instagram post. “This isn’t a victory for me but for the HBCU King as a whole and intelligent young likeminded African American men and women dedicated to eradicating those volatile stereotypes plaguing our communities.”
About the Mr. HBCU Kings’ Leadership Conference and Competition:
Mission Statement: To enhance the leadership skills for university males by creating an infrastructure for leadership that enables them to develop as spokespersons, role models and leaders in their universities and communities, according to its mission statement.
Tommy Meade is HBCU Buzz‘s Editor in chief. Follow him on Twitter.
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I thank God and all who believed in me in winning this title, and as previously stated “THE WORK STARTS HERE!” ~Anthony I. Hyland