Friday, Oct. 13 2017 was a memorable night for seniors Jack Dunleavy and Morgan Comolli as they were crowned 2017’s Mr. and Ms. Cabrini.
Established back in the early 1990s, the Mr. and Ms. Cabrini Pageant was created to give a unique and Cabrinian touch to the homecoming king and queen titles. Hosted by CAP Board, this pageant allows a group of students to compete in a series of challenges for the title of Mr. and Ms. Cabrini.
This year’s pageant was possible thanks to the hard work of CAP Board members Danielle Perez and Abigail Scardelletti. Both said that while the planning process was intimidating and stressful, they were very excited and proud to do it.
The contestants for the pageant were selected by the Cabrini students, faculty and staff based on their involvement on campus, whether it be working in the admissions office, running a club, being an orientation leader or a multitude of other on-campus responsibilities.
The contestants who participated alongside Dunleavy and Comolli were junior Jordan Clouthier, junior Annie Gorski, sophomore Maddie Louge, junior Sean Dailey, senior Eric Lodi and junior Zahir Watkins.
Dailey, human resource management major, expressed great excitement when he found out he had been nominated.
“It showed that my hard work over the past two-three years had paid off,” he said. “That I’ve made an impact on someone other than myself.”
Gorski was just as thrilled to be nominated for Ms. Cabrini.
“I was so honored that someone would nominate me for this pageant,” Gorski, junior psychology major, said.
In the weeks leading up to the pageant, there was a special contest called Penny Wars. During that time, each of the contestants had a bank box with their name, picture and a charity of his or her choosing out on a table in Jazzman’s Cafe.
Students could place coins into each of the candidates’ boxes. Adding pennies would give the candidates points and other coins and bills would deduct points.
The points would then be tallied up and the winner would be announced at the pageant. All the money the contestants raised would be donated to the winner’s charity.
Dailey was proud to donate his money to the Beau Biden Foundation because he believes in it and his aunt, a former Cabrini alumna, is the executive director.
“For me, she almost inspired me to come to Cabrini and be the person who looks out for others,” Dailey said. “I saw that foundation and it’s important to protect children who sometimes can’t protect themselves.
Other charities chosen by the candidates were paws4people, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Autism Speaks, Laurel House and the Diocese of Camden.
Pageant Night
In honor of Cabrini’s 60th anniversary, this year’s pageant was hosted by several alumni who won the pageant in past years. Ms. Cabrini of 2015 Mary Kate Moran expressed great pride in being a part of the pageant once again.
“I think it’s a great way to showcase our school spirit and show that Cabrini students love their school,” Moran said.
Following a performance from the Cabrini step team, the pageant began with the first of four rounds: the spirit round. During that round, the contestants would be called on stage one-by-one to show off their school spirit by wearing Cabrini gear and using props of their choosing, such as pom moms, confetti and more.
Following the spirit round was the surprise round, so as such because nobody knew what it was going to be until the pageant. This year’s surprise was a game of charades.
In this round, each of the contestants were given a slip of paper with a charade on it and they had to silently act it out while the judges would guess what it was. The contestants were given 30 seconds to get as much charades in as they could before time ran out.
Gorski won the charades round with the judges guessing four correctly.
Next was the talent round. During this round, each of the contestants had four minutes to showcase a special talent they had.
Clouthier showed a video she made that detailed her experience at Cabrini and paid tribute to her closest friends.
Dailey followed up with a video that parodied the Nickelodeon sitcom iCarly and paid homage to the character Gibby, whose name became Dailey’s nickname, due to a striking resemblance.
Next to perform was Comolli, who did a stand-up routine about her family, followed by Dunleavy, who reenacted this year’s orientation flash dance with the help of a few orientation leaders in the audience.
Gorski performed a rendition of the song “What Dreams Are Made Of” from the Lizzy McGuire Movie with the help of Louge and junior Eric Stone.
Lodi followed up with a stand-up routine on his grandparents.
Louge, who performed a version of Jimmy Fallon’s Evolution of Mom Dancing, with the help of senior Jackie Witherow, senior Alyssa Massarella and sophomore Emma Tribute.
Lastly, Watkins showcased a video of him showing off his basketball skills.
After the contestants performed their talents, students voted on the contestants of their choosing.
While the judges were tallying up the scores, the Cabrini Dance Team performed on stage.
Afterwards, the contestants were called back to the stage where 2016’s Mr. and Ms. Cabrini junior Matt Keelan and senior Cece Heckman announced the winner of Penny Wars and the final four contestants. Morgan was declared the winner of the Penny Wars as well as one of the remaining candidates, along with Dunleavy, Gorski and Dailey.
As a result of Comolli’s win, all of the money raised will be donated to her charity, Laurel House.
This led to the final round of the pageant: the interview round. In this round, each of the candidates were asked a question by the judges and had 30 seconds to respond.
While the judges met to decide the winner, the final contestants led an improvised routine of the YMCA song.
Following the routine, Keelan and Heckman rounded up the remaining contestants and announced the winners of the pageant: newly crowned Dunleavy and Comolli.
Dunleavy was ecstatic and greatly thankful to be crowned Mr. Cabrini.
“It really captures the energy of Cabrini and how much our school comes together for great events,” Dunleavy said.
Comolli was equally excited and surprised to win the pageant.
“I really enjoyed being with all these great people and representing the school,” she said.
Comolli thanked Dr. Kate Farina, Maggie Javitt, Sam Negron, Emily Smull, Jess Palatucci, her mother and everyone who helped her prepare for the pageant.
Dunleavy also thanked his parents and his friends for supporting him every day, saying that he loves them all.
The contestants and attendees say the Mr. and Ms. Cabrini pageant was a night to remember.
“I loved telling everyone about my experience and how much I love my school,” Dunleavy said.
