Love was in the air as Alpha Phi sorority hosted their annual “Mr. Heartthrob” event to raise money for women’s heart health.
This year, the event was held Feb. 15 at Varsity Theater, with Marquette Men’s Basketball guard, Kam Jones, being one of the contestants.
Morgan Wiberg, Alpha Phi President and senior in the College of Business Administration, said this is the fourth year they have been putting on “Mr. Heartthrob.” With this year’s donations of $3,212, they raised over $100,000 in their chapter’s lifetime fundraising for the Alpha Phi Foundation.
Wiberg added that the Alpha Phi chapter at Marquette uses “Mr. Heartthrob” as an opportunity to incorporate their philanthropy into something that is engaging for everyone, and raises money for women’s heart health.
“We continue the event each year, because we raise such a significant amount of money for our philanthropy, the Alpha Phi Foundation,” Wiberg said. “When we send the money in, it goes to different research initiatives to help in the medical field.”
Wiberg said every year they put on “Mr. Heartthrob” during Heart Week. Heart Week is during Valentine’s Day week every year, and is a week where the members of Alpha Phi fundraise with various philanthropy events — the biggest one being “Mr. Heartthrob.”
“‘Mr. Heartthrob’ is like a male pageant event,” Wiberg said. “We get over 30 applications from people on campus, and we have to narrow it down to seven contestants. The application consists of basic questions and, in addition, includes ‘Why do you want to be ‘Mr. Heartthrob’ and why do you feel connected to Alpha Phi?’”
Brooke Mangarelli, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration, said this was her first time going and she wanted to go to support local philanthropy.
“I loved being able to take a break from my day to enjoy something funny and lighthearted,” Mangarelli said. “It was really cool to see a lot of people come together to support such a good cause.”
The seven contestants chosen to participate at this year’s event were: Frank Shediac, first-year in the College of Nursing, Josh Bailey, first-year in the College of Arts & Sciences, Roo (Haryu) Wooten, first-year in the College of Engineering, Sam Brattini, junior in the College of Business Administration, Griffin Adaya, senior in the College of Health Sciences, Halden Stoehr, senior in the College of Business Administration, and Jones, junior in the College of Communication.
The nearly sold-out crowd cheered for each of the contestants and they each did their “walk up.” All were dressed up in either suits or costumes, and cheered down the aisle to engage the crowd.
Once on stage, each of the contestants participated in “pageant rounds.” The first round was answering various questions you might get asked on a blind date. Based on the contestants’ answers, Wiberg chose Shediac to win.
The second round was a Q&A about women’s health, which Jones won by answering most correctly. For the final round, a lip sync challenge would add points to each of their scores based on how much the judges — one representative from each grade in Alpha Phi — liked it.
Once crowned “Mr. Heartthrob,” the winner is considered the “sweetheart” in the sorority. He will come to all social and philanthropy events, as well as become part of our sorority for the year, Wiberg said.
After the judges tallied up their scores, it was announced that Jones was new “Mr. Heartthrob” — becoming the first basketball player to win the title.
“I had a few rehearsals with my backup dancers for the lip sync portion,” Jones said. “I was definitely most excited for that part, but I also really enjoyed the fashion aspect as well.”
Jones said he was most interested in applying because he had known Wiberg since his first year at Marquette.
“I love Marquette and the students here,” Jones said. “As a player, I want to support Marquette, and show my face. I thought this was a funny way to do it.”
This story was written by Avery Darrow and Sophie Goldstein. They can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].
