After three months of primping, Mr. and Miss Purple and Gold will finally be decided Friday.

The Mu Theta Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. will be giving away $2,000 worth of scholarships through the Mr. and Miss Purple and Gold Pageant.

The semi-formal affair will take place in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Curtis Creighton, pageant coordinator and member of Omega Psi Phi, said the fraternity has been working on the pageant since late July.

He said this is the first year for the pageant at Iowa State.

“It’s been rough, but it’s finally coming to a head,” Creighton said. “Everyone’s really getting things together.”

Creighton said the idea for having a Mr. and Miss Purple and Gold Pageant came from another fraternity chapter at Lincoln University in Missouri.

The name of the pageant is taken from the fraternity’s colors, which are purple and gold.

Creighton said the contestants must compete in four categories, including business and professional, talent, evening wear and question and answer. He said all of the sections will be weighed equally.

Five judges will judge the contestants, Creighton said.

In addition to accumulating points during the pageant, contestants can also accumulate pre-pageant points.

Creighton said contestants were awarded points by going to programs put on by the fraternity, doing community service projects and dressing up on designated days.

To help fund the event, Creighton said contestants also sold ads for the pageant ad book.

He said people and businesses supporting the pageant showed their support by buying ads.

“In order to put the pageant on, it was all done by donation,” Creighton said.

Out of the 12 contestants, six will receive scholarship money.

Mr. and Miss Purple and Gold will each receive the grand prize of $700, Creighton said. He also said two $200 cash prizes and two $100 cash prizes will be awarded.

Erica Cross, a pageant contestant and sophomore in journalism and mass communication, said she wants to be Miss Purple and Gold. If she wins, Cross said the prize money would help pay her university bill.

But winning the money is not her only reason for participating in the pageant.

“I thinks it’s good to support fraternities and sororities and the endeavors they do on campus,” Cross said. “As Miss Purple and Gold, I would help the men of Omega Psi Phi with community service projects and other activities.”

Creighton said the duties of Mr. and Miss Purple and Gold entail speaking at fraternity functions, and helping with programs, community service projects and other activities.

Tickets for the affair are $8 and can be purchased from members of Omega Psi Phi and pageant contestants. Creighton said all the money received from ticket sales will go toward the pageant scholarships.

“I hope the whole campus comes out to support,” Creighton said.

The Mr. and Miss Purple and Gold Pageant also kicks off the fraternity’s Founders Week, which runs from Nov. 14 to Nov. 20.

Following the pageant on Saturday, there will be a Bout It! Bout It! Party from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. On Sunday, a Body of Christ Christian Worship Service will be from 12 to 2 p.m. in the Pioneer Room of the Memorial Union.

For men interested in Omega Psi Phi fraternity, there will be an informational meeting Sunday at 7 p.m. in the Gallery Room of the Memorial Union.

Afterward the fraternity is sponsoring a Jordan’s Chicago Style Hot Dogs social and Spades tournament at 9 p.m. at Jordan’s, 131 Welch Ave.

The week continues on Tuesday with a workshop entitled “Truth or Dare?” in the Gold Room of the Memorial Union. Wednesday night will be movie night in Carver 101 at 7 p.m.

To conclude the week, Omega Phi Psi is having a bowling party on Thursday in the basement of the Memorial Union from 7 to 11 p.m.

For more information about the pageant or Founders Week activities, call Creighton at 292-2476.