Student council holds first pageant

Daniella Haviv, Contributing Writer

The CAS Student Council hosted the first-ever Royalty Pageant in the Kimmel Center for University Life on Nov. 24. Pairs of CAS students representing each class competed in a three-part competition: talent, an NYU- and New York City-themed costume contest and a Q&A portion.

CAS seniors Matthew Go and Lucy O’Shaughnessy took the crown. Go performed a magic show with elements of neuroscience, while O’Shaughnessy presented a breakdance act.

O’Shaughnessy said she hoped to make an impact on fellow students by sharing her NYU experience with others during the Q&A section of the pageant.

“I feel like I have taken advantage of a lot of the opportunities offered by CAS and I was excited to talk about them so more people would know about them, and take advantage of them as well,” O’Shaughnessy said.

CAS junior Henry Knight said he enjoyed the winners’ performance.

“My favorite part so far was the last two performances, Lucy’s and Matt’s,” Knight said. “In terms of performance, they really got it down. I was very impressed.”

Gallatin junior Derrick Wang said he was impressed by Go’s performance.

“The magic tricks, his whole show, it was very impressive,” Wang said.

CAS juniors Christopher Aseervatham and Sidra Ahmad, sophomores Heather Minton and William Goedel and freshmen Corinda Hayes and Justine Rosalez also competed in the pageant.

Junior Rebecca Cruz, CAS Student Council vice president, said the concept of the pageant has been in the works since June, and council members have been planning the event since early October. Cruz thought the event was an overall success, especially in helping form a stronger CAS community.

“I really liked how we’re starting to create a CAS community, and now a class-specific community within NYU,” Cruz said. “I think that the event went really well, especially for our first time.”

Freshman Genesis Bellot, CAS Student Council secretary and Programming Committee chair, said she was impressed by the outcome of the pageant.

“Being that it was the first time that we hosted the event, it was definitely a learning experience,” Bellot said. “I think that it went really well overall. We have taken a lot from it to better plan and organize our projects and events in the future.”

A version of this article appeared in the Tuesday, Nov. 25 print edition. Email Daniella Haviv at [email protected].