Contestants line up for a selfie before the beginning of the contest. (Basil Mustafa / Fourth Estate)
Marisa Elengical takes home grand prize in contest hosted by Henna For a Cause GMU
BY BASIL MUSTAFA, ASSISTANT CULTURE EDITOR
Henna For A Cause, along with Women in Diplomacy, hosted a Zohran Mamdani lookalike contest at the Horizon Amphitheater Sept. 16. Contestants were tasked with dressing like the New York City mayor and answering the question, “What would you do if you were the mayor of Fairfax?”
Contestants were charged a $5 entry fee and judges were charged $15 with 50% of proceeds going to DeFlock, an open source project that maps automated license plate readers. Flock Safety is the company behind many ALPR networks.
The contest began with seven contestants, with a few more joining during the event. Contestants made jabs at Andrew Cuomo, scrutinized Flock and asked for better transportation on campus.
Judges scored contestants on a scale from one to 10 based on a combination of their responses and Mamdani likeness. The top three scoring contestants went to the final round.
Contestants were asked, “When you win, where is the first place you’ll travel?”
Marisa Elengical, the winner of the contest, responded by saying she wouldn’t leave because “we’re already in ‘Mamdanistan’.”
A surprise Ms. Mamdani contest took place following the Mamdani lookalike contest, with the winner that looked the most like Mamdani’s wife Rama Duwaji getting a custom tote bag made by Henna For a Cause’s president, Fatima Gimenez.
Marisa Elengical, winner of the Mamdani lookalike contest, poses with the winner of the Ms. Mamdani lookalike contest. (Basil Mustafa / Fourth Estate)
Over the past year, Henna For A Cause has hosted several contests based on internet trends, including a Performative Male Contest and a Corporate Catwalk to raise money for both the Palestinian Relief Fund and Immigrant Defense Project.
In an interview with Fourth Estate, Gimenez, a senior Government and International Politics major, said the idea for the event came up in a summer meeting among the club’s officers.
She said events like this are a “really easy way to get socially engaged.”
With multiple events under their belt, Gimenez described the club as a “well oiled machine.”
