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Delano Whitfield, 10th Mister SC State
Whitfield is a broadcast communications major and former division II basketball player from North Brunswick, New Jersey. He is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., 101 Black Men and SC State’s NAACP. He is a Thurgood Marshall College Fund Yard Ambassador on campus.
Outside of the university, Whitfield is a John Hopkins Talented Youth Scholar. He is also an orator who does poetry, public speaking and motivational speaking events.
Last year, he spoke at several prestigious campus events including the 54th Orangeburg Massacre Commemoration, the Youth and ROTC Day, and the Moguls in the Making session with television writer and executive story editor Sa’Rah Jones.
Whitfield is passionate about what he does, what he stands for and whom he impacts.
“When I was running for Mister SC State, I couldn’t think of a better platform than ‘VISIONARY’ because that exudes me in so many different ways. Each one of those characteristics in my platform embody the standards of what a man should carry,” he said.
Whitfield’s “VISIONARY” was inspired by his line name when he crossed over to Alpha Phi Alpha. It stands for versatility, inspiration, success, innovative, optimistic, natural, authentic, resilience and youthful.
“Versatility means being fluent and being able to talk to anyone on campus. Inspiration is being able to impact others through the way you carry yourself, the way you talk, the way you move and your personality,” Whitfield said. “Success is built on whatever goal or standard you set for yourself. Your success is different because everybody has a different goal.
“Being innovative is being able to be creative, whether it’s doing different things on campus or starting your own business. Optimism is being able to have an open mind,” he said. “It's good to be optimistic because there are so many things the world and future has to offer.
“Being natural and authentic means just being your true self and not conforming for anybody. Resilience is your hunger, how hungry your drive for success is. It’s not stopping until you’ve reached your goal. Youthful is being free and full of life,” he said.
Whitfield explained how he had to use characteristics from his platform like resilience and optimism in his personal life to make it to college.
While mourning the loss of his grandmother, enduring financial hardships, and struggling to get scholarships, Whitfield was not only determined to make it to college, but he was also determined to inspire others like him in his generation.
“I still wanted to play basketball, but I wanted to do other things because I knew I had more to offer to the world than just basketball and I knew I could be impactful. When I came down here, it’s like the doors opened for me,” Whitfield said. “I wanted to be an inspiration and let people know that whatever they want to do, they can accomplish it.”
Whitfield hopes to bring versatility and all that he’s learned from different cultures and environments to his position as Mister SC State. He wants his peers to feel comfortable being authentic and bringing new ideas to the table.
“Giving everybody a chance to show what they’re capable of is important,” he said.
Whitfield is big on presentation and loves fashion. This is something he plans to incorporate within his events.
“In Black culture, there’s a lot of things we tell from our stories through our clothes,” he said. “Fashion shows are the best places for people to display who they are because they bring different cultures.”
Whitfield also wants to have mental health forums with students to discuss various issues that may be going on in their personal lives. He feels that this will help to decrease violence on and surrounding campus.
“I look forward to being a part of change,” he said.
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