Mary’s Choice Awards coming to campus

By Henson White

Students in the department of mass communication are pulling out all the stops to stage their own version of an awards show kin to the Academy Awards or even the Met Gala.

The latter, in fact, is the theme for the first Mary’s Choice Awards, set for March 31 in the Performing Arts Center, will highlight the multitude of talent here at Bethune-Cookman University. The preshow is at 3:30 p.m. and the main show at 6:30 p.m.

The MCA is a student-run event, which means all of those involved in production are students. The idea was conceived by student Leviticus Glover, who graduated last December and is just waiting to march in May. Glover’s plans originally called for staging the event in the fall and when classes started, prep work was underway.

Mother Nature, however, had other plans.

The arrival of Hurricane Ian at the end of September forced the campus to shut down for about 10 days.

“The hurricane really threw a wrench in our plans, and we made the decision to postpone it,” professor Akeemia Clements said, adding the event was supposed to take place Oct. 28.

Clements and Chris Shaw, manager of the campus television station, both said they are excited about the project.

Organizers have blanketed the campus with a list of 17 categories including the Zora Neal Hurston Writers Award, Rick Ross HipHop Artist Award, Mary’s Social Influencers and the Booker T. Washington Faculty Award. Voting is open.

Mass communication students Decembir Dukes and Brianna Avrilien are serving as the producers for the show. They faced challenges as first-time producers of the event including time management and keeping the team members together. Figuring out the structure and logistics of the event also proved a challenge, they said.

“All the students we have are working hard to get this show to happen. And no matter what no one after the show will be able to say that Mass Comm did not put on a big show,” Dukes said.

Both she and Avrilien said one key takeaway from the experience, so far, is that you should come in expecting the unexpected. They are also confident that this show will have a tremendous impact when it happens.

What: Mary’s Choice Awards

When: Friday, March 31 (Pre-show at 3:30 p.m. and main event at 6:30 p.m.)

Where: Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center

Cost: Free