Mentorship, courage and roaring, three things that make up the man behind the campaign “Roar MSU”. That candidate is Wayne Mitchell, a junior Biology major and proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc., who’s running for the representative role of Mr. Morgan for 2015-2016 school year.
“The roar is all about that feeling of letting it all out, the top of your lungs just letting it all go,” said Mitchell. “My whole platform is about taking that feeling and going for whatever you want to go for; so just stepping outside your comfort zone and whatever it may be to you. Whatever you’re scared to do it’s about going out and doing it.”
Being heavily influenced by previous Mr. Morgan titleholders as a freshman, Mitchell is keyed in to Morgan’s campus life and dedicated to helping his peers. He’s a part of the Adopt-A-Freshman program where upperclassmen are paired up with freshmen, to help them adjust to college life. He has also been a mentor with Morgan’s Center for Academic Success and Achievement (CASA) for the last two years, another program that caters to incoming freshmen. If elected, Mitchell would like to continue to mentor his peers, but in a bigger way by using all of the resources that Mr. Morgan has access to.
“I’m big on mentorship because I didn’t really have positive role models growing up,” he said. “That’s why I did CASA, it’s a great chance to help someone else.”
The role of Mr. Morgan takes more than just receiving a sash and waving. Whoever is elected as Mr. Morgan not only serves as a host of the university, but also represents the university at the annual Mr. HBCU Kings’ Leadership Conference and Competition held in Jefferson City, Missouri. The competitors are judged in categories that assess their best characteristics. Mr. Morgan and Miss Morgan State winners also receive scholarships and are responsible for overseeing two community services.
He hopes that a transparent running platform will allow him the opportunity to experience being Mr. Morgan.
“My platform is something I’m really going through,” he says. “I was really reserved and I wanted to be Mr. Morgan after I was Mr. Junior, but I didn’t run because I was scared— I didn’t think campaigning was something I could do. Every day out here [campaigning] is an adventure. Other than that I’m a regular guy; I’ve been that little kid that only goes to class or stay inside and that kid that stays inside and plays video games all day. I feel like I’m real relatable,”
If elected, Mitchell plans to incorporate past events from earlier Mr. Morgans in order to unify the campus and inspire school spirit amongst students, which is an issue at Morgan State.
Voting ends Wednesday, March 18 at 12 p.m.
