By Nina Butts
Sixteen years ago, the student who would become associate dean for student engagement, Jason Meadows, won first place at the Black Student Union (BSU) talent show. His talent: rapping. Now, in 2019, Meadows is giving current students their chance to shine.
According to Meadows, “The main goal of the talent show is, one for students to have the opportunity to express themselves creatively and also share their talents with the community.”
But Meadows believes there is a second goal of the talent show: for students to have fun.
This year’s talent show was held on Wednesday, Nov. 20. The winner was freshman Christopher Jackson, who sang a rendition of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You.”
Jackson said he’s been singing ever since he was a kid, and he will probably use his prize money for tuition or put it in his bank account.
Jackson received his score from the total points he received from a panel of five judges.
“We took each of our scores that we gave them personally, so we have to grade them on overall performance, vocal or dance, originality, and audience appeal...and for each person we added them up,” freshman judge Arreyanna Echols said.
The prizes were $300 for first place, $150 for second, and $50 for third. Second place went to freshman Richard Lofton and third place went to freshman Brooklyn Pruitt.