Drag Bingo Makes All the Right Calls
Andora Tetee dazzles students with lipsync performance. Credit: Julianna Manrique '25
The Marist College Student Programming Council held its first-ever Drag Bingo event in the Cabaret on April 3, hosted by drag queen Andora Tetee.
Over 80 students attended the event, some opting to accessorize with feather boas and bedazzled attire. The night consisted of seven rounds of standard bingo, with first, second and third-place winners each round.
The event featured two lip-sync performances from Tetee, including “Survivor/I Will Survive,” originally performed by the cast of “Glee,” and “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus.
These songs are two of Tetee’s favorites to perform, as they remind her of the person she has transformed into. “I wasn’t very confident in the beginning, but from doing [drag] for 25 years, it just made me a very confident person,” said Tetee.
Several students also showed off their skills, working the room and donning their own self-appointed drag names.
Kait Dugan, president of SPC, was proud of how the event turned out and is looking to usher in a new era of campus activities. “After the incredible feedback we received from bingo, I wouldn't be surprised if we host many more and different types of drag events,” said Dugan.
Marist, once a Catholic vocational school, has transitioned over the years and is now nonsectarian in nature. However, continual work is being done to ensure the school supports a diverse and inclusive environment.
To promote this, SPC is looking to “partner with other clubs/committees who spread messages of diversity, inclusion and LGBTQ+ rights, including but not limited to the Office of DE&I, the Queer-Trans Alliance, Fox Pride and SGA,” according to Dugan.
At the beginning of the event, Tetee gauged the audience’s exposure to drag by having students raise their hands if they had seen a drag queen in person before — less than half the room raised their hands.
Queer and transgender visibility, specifically the case of drag performers in schools, has been a highly divisive topic. While anti-LGBTQ+ groups and politicians depict drag as dangerous and hypersexual, drag performers like Tetee feel that this is a harmful mischaracterization. She believes drag is an expression of creativity and a way for people to think outside the confines of gender norms.
“There’s a lot of people in the world, and everyone should see [people of] all different walks of life… it could be a straight person just knowing that drag exists,” said Tetee. “The more things that a college brings in to inspire people or even make people feel a little bit more at home… maybe it makes [LGBTQ+ students] feel a little bit better that they’re not the only one.”
By the end of the night, students were laughing, cheering and clapping along to one final performance from Tetee.