Not to put words in anyone’s mouth, but Noah Christian Tate seemed to speak for all 25 honorees when he said the reward for participating in the 31st annual Beautillion was the bond that developed among the college-bound high school seniors.
“We have all stepped into a brotherhood of excellence,” he said. “And we are bonded for life.”
Tate, the student body treasurer at Martin Luther King, Jr. Early College, will head to Southern California following his graduation to be pre-law at the University of California Los Angeles.
Chaired by Kimberly Campbell, Regina Edmondson, Heather Johnson and Deirdre Wilson, this celebration of outstanding young African-American males was presented by and held Sunday evening at the Sheraton Denver Downtown.
President Robin Lawson said that this year’s theme, A Legacy of Achievement: Keeping the Dream Alive, reflects the confidence and pride that Denver chapter members have in the “extraordinary young men” being honored this year.
Each of them, Lawson noted, is driven to succeed in careers that range from engineering to playing in the National Football League.
Grandview High’s Okiefe Onoriode Ogbe was in the top 1 percent of his sophomore and junior class in his native Nigeria and quickly became a leader once his parents, Abigail and Dr. David Ogbe, moved their family to the United States. He plays club basketball, earned an academic letter and will attend Columbia University as the first step in preparing for a career with the Department of Homeland Security.
“Their dreams can and will be realized,” observed Beautillion co-chair Johnson. “They know what needs to be done.”
In addition to Tate, the 2014 Beaus and their high schools are:
Alfred Kenechukwu Agbim, Rangeview; Reginald Alan Ausler Jr. and Jaron Isaiah Brown, Hinkley; Pryce Salvant Batey and Noah Juwon-Porter Jones, Colorado Academy; Kameron Desmond Brandon, Jeremiah Josiah Hodges and Arsean Marquez Wilbon, Cherokee Trail; Isaiah Matthew Brown, Timothy Steven Whitlow, Grandview; Julian Rhamone Carey, Morgan Bielo Flowers, Derek Eugene Hawkins, Rico Terrell Henderson II, Isaiah Frank Jones, Nasir Malik Little and twins Darnell Keith Steel-Tyler and Leonard Kenard Steel-Tyler, East; Steven Malik McAlester and Darian Jamal Turner, Eaglecrest; and Elijah Quinton Randelle Sanford, Rayvon Ahmad Solomon and Justice Nathan Taylor, Regis Jesuit.
For more about the Beaus and their accomplishments, go to Mile High Style blog blogs.denverpost.com/style
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, davidson@ denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
