10:16 AM EST on Monday, December 12, 2005

BY JENNIFER D. JORDAN
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE -- Rafe Judkins, a 2005 Brown University graduate, lost his chance to win $1 million during last night's finale episode of Survivor: Guatelmala.

CBS photo

Rafe Judkins, a student from Brown, originally from Pittsburgh, was one of the members competing in Survivor: Guatemala.

"I'm upset, because we all totally wanted Rafe to make the final two," said Maureen Suhendra, a junior anthropology major who watched the finale with about 30 other students on campus.

"The whole room was just groaning and everyone was holding each other."

Judkins, dubbed Wilderness Guide on the show, advanced to the top three, but he was voted out of the competition at 9:43 p.m.. In the end, 30-year-old Danni Boatwright, a sports radio talk-show host from Kansas, beat Stephenie LaGrossa, 25, a pharmaceutical sales representative from Philly. Judkins, 22, was born in Salt Lake City into a Mormon family and grew up in Pittsburgh with his parents and younger brother, Landon Judkins, now a student at Brown.

The students watched the two-hour show in a lounge in Keeny dormitory, where they have gathered every Thursday night this semester, said Nayla Khoury, a senior who worked with Judkins in Brown's Outdoor Leadership Training program, which foster leadership skills and runs a group wilderness trip. As always, the students were rooting for their former classmate, a biology and anthropology major who spent the summer in Guatemala taping the reality show, now in its 11th season.

They watched as Judkins beat out 15 other contestants by forging alliances and winning competitions over 39 grueling days. The participants endured heat over 100 degrees, a diet of crushed corn, tropical rainstorms, and challenges that included eating insects and racing through elaborate mazes. Judkins survival training served him well, as did his even-keeled demeanor.

In the end, however, Judkins failed to convince his ally Danni Boatwright that she should pick him.

The two had a pact to support each other. If they both made it to the final three, Boatwright promised Judkins she would pick him as the other final competitor.

But Judkins released Boatwright from that promise when he saw how hard Stephenie LaGrossa fought to win an exhausting challenge that forced the participants to balance on a swiveling board for hours. Judkins was disqualified from the challenge when he accidentally touched a beam for support.

In good conscience, he said he could not keep Boatwright to her pledge.

"Why are you being such a nice guy?" Khoury groaned. "He's been such a moral, nice guy, but this could be a mistake."

It was. Fearing Judkins would beat her, Boatwright picked LaGrossa.

Judkins' sense of morality and fair play worked against him in the end, his friends said.

"On the other hand, that's why we love him," Suhendra said.

She said she would miss the weekly Survivor gatherings on campus.

"I had never seen Survivor before, but I have to admit, it's pretty addictive," Suhendra said. As a member of the wilderness program, she enjoyed seeing Rafe help his team use a map and compass in the jungle, pack a hiking bag and minister to competitors mosquito bites and sunburns.

But the best part was watching her friend compete each week and stay true to his character, she said.

"What has been the most fun is just being able to share this love of Rafe with other people," Suhendra said. "Because he is so amazing."