Deepher Dudes raise money for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Matt Foley’s paunch looked suspiciously like a pillow, but the audience bought it,… Matt Foley’s paunch looked suspiciously like a pillow, but the audience bought it, anyway.

Brett Dresner impersonated Chris Farley’s famous SNL character during the talent portion of Deepher Dude 2011, pretending to be a motivational speaker who told misbehaving kids that they would not amount to “jack squat.”

The freshman Kappa Sigma Fraternity member was one of 13 men who vied for the title of Deepher Dude, the annual male beauty pageant Delta Phi Epsilon sorority held in the Assembly Room of the William Pitt Union last night.

Sophomore Brendan Schatzki, who represented the on-campus a capella group, C Flat Run, was the ultimate winner.

“I’m very confused,” Schatzki said following his win. “I signed up last-minute when my friend and fellow contestant Sean Malloy approached me in Market and asked if I wanted to sign up. I had no idea that this was even possible … it’s unbelievable.”

As Schatzki belted out his performance of “This is the Moment” from “Jekyll & Hyde” during the talent portion of the competition an audible “wow” could be heard from some audience members suprised by his vocal talent.

Hannah Urick, junior vice president of programming for Delta Phi Epsilon, said nearly 300 students attended the event, helping raise around $1,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

“Cystic fibrosis is a genetic disease that affects mostly the lungs and the pancreas, the faulty gene causes salt to move inappropriately between cells patients suffer from chronic lung infections which causes them to pass away,” said Cheyenne Warriner, development manager for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Pittsburgh.

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation invests money into research and so far has developed one of the first drugs shown to the basic gene defect in cystic fibrosis.

Contestants performed in three rounds: summer, talent and interview. They were judged on originality, audience appeal, stage presence and quality of answer.

Warriner served as a judge along with Summer Rothrock, coordinator of Fraternity and Sorority Life, and Chelsea Trimble, a Delta Phi Epsilon alumna.

Karthik Dwarki, Deepher Dude 2010, gave some parting advice to Schatzki. While crowning his successor, Dwarki told him to try to be as handsome as possible and to get an autograph from “American Idol” judge Randy Jackson.

Schatzki said that he feels his new title as Deepher Dude 2011 will aid him in his performance at the Campus Superstar singing competition this weekend.

Delta Chi fraternity was the organization with the most supporters in attendance, winning $100 toward the philanthropy of its choice.