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Rutgers Korean Student Association holds annual beauty pageant

The Korean Student Association held its annual beauty pageant on Feb. 20. Proceeds will go toward funding various projects the group plans for the future. – Photo by Manqi Yang


The new Korean beauty king has been chosen at the Rutgers Korean Student Association's annual male pageant. 

On Saturday, the Rutgers Korean Student Association (KSA) held their annual crowning of Mr. KSA at the group's male beauty pageant at the Busch Student Center.

The goal of the event was to have all the organizations associated with the Asian-American Cultural center come together as one and have a fun time, said Jonathan Han, a Rutgers Business School junior and the club's treasurer.

“We invite representatives from these organizations to participate and kind of have the title of Mr. KSA,” he said.

The contestants were Brian Ching from the Rutgers Cantonese Club, Daniel Jeon from Lambda Phi Epsilon, Anthony Hoang from the Chinese Student Organization, Frank Toth from the Rutgers Korea Campus Crusade For Christ, Chris Kim from Pi Delta Psi and Matthew Reyes from Nu Alpha Phi.

“So the contestants are selected through an audition process, we use our staff to reach out to these organizations and post an application on our Facebook page," Han said. "Later we have an audition day where they come in and do an audition and we debrief and choose which candidates we pick." 

The contestants were judged by their performances and by the number of likes on their various social media platforms like YouTube video and Facebook, said Andrew Noh, a School of Arts and Sciences senior, former Mr. KSA contestant and pageant judge.

“There’s different categories the contestants will be judged on like a talent portion, swimwear, interviews and that kind of stuff,” he said.

The evening began with introductory videos of all the candidates and a first walk on the runway. Each candidate played a different character and based their videos off them. 

Frank Toth was Hercules, Daniel Jeon was the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Matthew Reyes was Aladdin, Brian Ching was Zuko from Avatar the Last Airbender, Anthony Hoang was Finn from Tangled and Chris Kim was Charming DJ.

“If you look at Herc, he’s a fellow halfie — he’s half-god and half-human. I’m half-Korean, half-not-Korean, so that’s why I picked him,” said Frank Toth, a Rutgers Business School senior. 

The talents demonstrated by the contestants included step dancing, a magic show and dances to Korean pop music. 

During the interviews, the participants were asked questions about their future. They were also asked what foods and magazines best represent themselves. 

Toth said he had been on a stringent diet to prepare for the event.

During the event, former Korean Student Association members performed dances on stage. There was also a dance performed by the association’s first-year representatives.

After voting, Frank Toth was crowned Mr. KSA.

“I’m so thankful for this experience. I’ve been blessed by the people who surrounded me and supported me. I wish I could do the 'Mean Girls' thing and break this thing,” he said.

The proceeds from this event will go toward funding projects, Han said. The Korean Student Association will set the date for the next Mr. KSA the next day.

The process will begin again when first-year representatives are selected in September and October. 

"Within each year it varies in purpose. Two years ago we did charity, but this year we’re using the money for future events like Project Korea. We’ll be using it for our performers and even a possible headliner as well,” Han said. 

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Sanjana Chandrasekharan is a School of Arts and Sciences first-year student majoring in political science. She is a contributing writer for The Daily Targum.



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