Written by Kylie Akins
The student body will gather in a medley of thick glasses, suspenders and pink in the coming weeks as they fight for the chance to meet Jason Mraz at his Sept. 25 concert.Since the Campus Activities Board announced the “Geek in the Pink” contest last Friday in chapel, all students have been invited to dress up in their “pinkest, geekiest outfits,” as contest organizer Senior Tiffany Jones said, to win two free tickets and backstage passes to Mraz’ s concert.”It could be magenta; it could be bubblegum pink,” Jones said. “It just needs to be pink and bright and loud and exciting and fun. That’s the whole idea of this: to get the student body up and doing something fun all together.”Students participating in the contest will submit pictures of their outfit to thelink.harding.edu for consideration, and the entries will be featured as a slideshow on the student website. However, outfits are asked to be “Harding-appropriate,” Jones said, or they will not be entered into the contest or posted on the Link.Jones said she hopes everyone has fun with the contest’s theme, based on Mraz’s 2006 song, “Geek in the Pink,” from his second album, “Mr. A-Z.””[The song] is about Jason Mraz; he’s a geek,” Jones said. “I have memories of it from high school, dancing around to it. ‘Geek in the Pink’ is just basically Jason [Mraz] having fun and making fun of himself.”Five finalists will be selected by the Link and CAB staff and announced in chapel Sept. 23. The students will flaunt their winning outfits on the Benson Auditorium’s stage while the student body votes through a texting system during announcements, determining the winner by popular vote.”You don’t have to be able to sing to enter,” Jones said. “You just need to be creative and maybe a little kooky. I just think it celebrates creativity.”The geekier, the better in Jones’ eyes, she said, adding that she hopes to see some bow ties, slick hair and pocket protectors. Director of Campus Life Corey McEntyre said the contest will give students a chance to earn the right to meet an artist they are a fan of.”I want the student body to come out and be creative. Participate,” McEntyre said. “You get to meet Jason Mraz. Let’s be real. That’s pretty cool.”Jones said a live response booth will be available at the concert for students to use. The booth will be equipped with an HD Flip video camcorder and will be open for students to respond to the concert throughout Mraz’s performance.”We want to see reactions,” Jones said. “We want to see emotion. So this is our attempt at capturing that: capturing a concert experience.”
