Lincoln hosts Mr. HBCU competition

The shining keys of the kingdom

Dwayne Mitchell II takes a bow after giving his three minute presentation on his platform during the Mr. HBCU Competition on Saturday at the Richardson Performing Arts Center.
Dwayne Mitchell II takes a bow after giving his three minute presentation on his platform during the Mr. HBCU Competition on Saturday at the Richardson Performing Arts Center.

Fifteen  kings came Wednesday to Jefferson City to ultimately compete for an even more coveted throne Saturday night - the title of Mr. HBCU.

The student-elected kings of 15 historically black colleges and universities from around the United States took part in the 14th annual Mr. HBCU  Conference and Competition, hosted by Lincoln University.

LU's Dean of Administration and Student Affairs, Jerome Offord, Jr., congratulated the men in a letter dated Thursday "for making it this far in your journey toward leadership," explaining they were present because "your peers see something in you that set you apart from other young men. They see you as a positive example of an African-American male, with the potential to make a difference on your campus and beyond - today, and well into your future."

"One of the things I wanted to express to the guys this year is: be open. Have fun, don't be too tight and just experience what it is for five days. Compete for one night, but let this be a (lifelong) experience for you," said Rakeeb Akande, Mr. HBCU 2017 and a recent graduate of Savannah State University in Savannah, Georgia.

Akande and Jefferson City's Mr. LU, Lorenzo Beach, were the hosts and did not compete for the throne.

The Saturday night oratory and talent competition in Richardson Auditorium - and the conference in the days preceding it - was about much more than being stylish in a variety of suits and impressing a panel of judges including local black leaders and professionals.

"We're going to talk about their life, their journey, what got them to this position of leadership and then talk about what leadership means in terms of holding the position of king on (their) respective campus," Kenneth Mitchell said Thursday.

Mitchell - a 1991 and 1993 LU graduate - is a certified life coach who manages a portfolio of training programs and was the conductor of leadership sessions at the conference for a second year.

The Kings' competition remains the only national forum of its kind, "celebrating black masculinity and black leadership, black male leadership," he said.

He was able to go to a student government association leadership conference while he was SGA president at LU. In addition to making lifelong friends at an event similar to last week's, Mitchell said he learned some important lessons he tries to impart to the young men he coaches each year.

"Sometimes you think that whatever you're dealing with on your campus, or whatever you're dealing with in terms of your life, you are the only one. I think that one of the things these type of leadership experiences do is to help you understand that iron sharpens iron. You're not the only one that's going through balancing school and leadership and personal things," he said.

Offord said HBCUs have long had opportunities for women who were campus queens to network and be affirmed, but there hadn't been an inter-HBCU campus opportunity for men as kings, until LU's Benicia Spencer-Williams founded the Mr. HBCU conference and competition.

Mitchell said leaders are developed; they don't just appear. So it's important to make conscious efforts to develop black male leaders, to prepare young men to take advantage of all the opportunities college can afford them.

More women who enter college generally graduate than men, and black men in particular have the lowest four-year college completion rates.

Mitchell said safe spaces for men like the conference and competition are important for men to be able to have honest conversations about the challenges they and their peers face.

"If we say that it takes a man to teach a man how to be a man, then at a certain point, we've still got leadership programs that are designed by women, that are facilitated by women, that are for men. So, how do you really open up in terms of some of the issues of male bullying that takes place on campuses, in terms of how you feel in terms of relationships and that kind of thing, in a setting where you can't truly be transparent?" he said.

Beyond their own experiences, though, competitors also had to answer the question of how they would use their platform to keep the HBCU experience relevant in a world of educational privilege.

"I believe HBCUs are always challenged to have to justify their existence," Mitchell said, even though the institutions still play important roles in ensuring first generation, low-income students graduate from college and produce many black professionals.

"For (the competition) to be born at Lincoln and then to continue to nurture and develop this event, it's an opportunity for the university to contribute something to the conversation about leadership and to the conversation about what it means to be king," Mitchell added.

Krishun J. Lovelace, of Jackson, Mississippi, and a senior at Lemoyne Owen College in Memphis, Tennessee, was crowned king.

As Mr. HBCU he receives a $1,500 financial award. The first runner-up is awarded $1,000 and the second runner-up receives $500. The three men were selected out of a final group of eight, after an earlier preliminary judging round. A Mr. Congeniality, Mr. Talent and Mr. Oratory were also named.