Article is below
This is dumb---- For God Sakes people, we have a Negro President! If anyone should understand the importance of not discriminating, it should be us. There is nothing wrong with this young woman being crowned Ms. Hampton University. If she won, she won. I can not stand a hater.
Before I begin, I have a question: Why is it not a huge news story when a white female pledges Alpha Kappa Alpha or Delta Sigma Theta? Why is it not a huge uproar when a white male joins Kappa Alpha Psi or Omega Psi Phi? Aren’t they historically Black organizations? Some would argue more important than the title of being a college queen-- Ok, on with my blog………..
After reading the initial article and a few blogs, a few points stood out to me:
1. “Historically Black colleges and universities were originally designed to serve a population that was not allowed to enter traditionally White institutions.
True, so what? There is not one HBCU that is 100% African America anywhere in this country. I’m assuming that this writer was trying to say that since HBCU’s were initially created for us, a white girl has no business as one of “our queens.” I guess some White people could make the same argument about President Obama in the “White House.” Could Hampton University (A historically Black college) ban other races from competing, NO, and I would argue that they wouldn’t want to. That would be a lawsuit out of this world. So if she won, she won.
Some people were against her victory because they say no one really knows who she is……
1. Being the Queen of a college is generally not a popularity nor a beauty contest. If she completed the application, was chosen, and satisfied the requirements the judges were seeking, What’s the problem? The article below lists what each contestant had to do. The contest included the evening gown, swimsuit and talent competition, and she answered a set of questions about her platform and was judged on her ability of being articulate in an interview format. Judges awarded her the crown because she performed the best- Bottom Line. Her win had nothing to do with race and it shouldn’t have. (Not to mention that two of the five judges were certified.) Nikole Churchill was one of 35 students who applied to compete in the pageant and one of 10 selected. That tells me that she was in a distinct group just to make it to the pageant to compete.
Some haters argue that she doesn't attend the main campus
2. So what? Was attending the main campus a set requirement in the application packet? Obviously not if she made it the competition out of 35 applicants. Many colleges have satellite campuses. They are still students. Generally, don’t they still pay student fees just like everyone else? Will her degree read the same as a main campus student? Yes. The only argument here is if attending the main campus was required in the application, which it wasn’t.
I do not understand why this young woman winning Miss Hampton University is an issue at all. Applications were completed, contestants were selected, judges were chosen, and a winner was chosen. Black, white, blue, yellow, or green, if she won, she won.
KJ
Crowning of first non-black Miss Hampton University divides campus
By Samieh Shalash 247-4537
October 13, 2009
HAMPTON — Hampton University crowned its first non-black Miss HU Friday, leading to a division on campus that prompted her to write President Barack Obama.
Nikole Churchill, 22, competed against nine black students in the 15th annual Miss HU scholarship pageant. The senior nursing major attends the Virginia Beach campus and is the competition's first non-black winner, according to executive pageant director Shelia J. Maye.
Churchill, who is from Hawaii, wrote Obama on Sunday to tell him that her crowning was met with negative comments because of her skin color. She invited him to visit HU and speak about racial tolerance.
"I am hoping that perhaps you would be able to make an appearance to my campus, Hampton University, so that my fellow Hamptonians can stop focusing so much on the color of my skin and doubting my abilities to represent," she wrote, "but rather be proud of the changes our nation is making toward accepting diversity."
In a local television report, she said her father is from Guam and her mother is Italian.
Her letter was posted Sunday on Congress.org. Churchill did not have HU's permission to comment Monday, said pageant co-director Mavis Baah.
This year's pageant included evening gown, swimsuit and talent competitions. Churchill won a $1,500 scholarship, will serve as homecoming queen Oct. 24 and continues on to the 2010 Miss Virginia pageant.
Maye said the Miss HU pageant grew out of the former homecoming queen competition, in which students voted for the winner. Now, the pageant winner is selected by judges and automatically serves as the university's homecoming queen.
This year's pageant was judged by five people, including two certified by the Miss Virginia competition, which leads to the Miss America pageant. The other judges were Joan Gentry, an HU counselor for freshman studies; Lorraine Bell, an HU music professor; and Henry Mills, a senior vice president at Old Point National Bank.
Journalism sophomore Juan Diasgranados said the Hampton campus is split on Churchill's crowning, with everyone from students to faculty and professors weighing in. Some are saying her win is great and embodies HU's spirit of diversity, he said, while others complain that she's not black and doesn't attend the main campus.
"They're saying that people don't know who she is, people don't even see her, so how can she represent us if she's not even from the main campus?"
The main campus has about 5,700 students while the university's Virginia Beach campus has about 90 students.
Diasgranados said a noticeable number of students walked out of the pageant Friday night when Churchill was crowned, but that he was among the majority who stood and applauded. About 900 people attended the pageant in Ogden Hall on campus, Maye said.
Churchill was one of about 35 students who applied to compete in the pageant during the spring semester, and one of 10 selected to compete after turning in applications.
Maye said Churchill's platform was about the need to mentor girls ages 11-14 on topics including self-esteem, body image, teenage pregnancies and nutrition.
Like the other contestants, Maye said Churchill answered a set of questions about her cause and was judged for her ability to be articulate and think on her feet.
Maye said the crowning of a non-black student is a great milestone for HU and that she's shocked by the amount of attention it's garnered.
"We have all kinds of people on our campus, we are not in a cocoon," she said. "As far as I'm concerned we need to get her ready to serve HU and to move on and represent us at Miss Virginia."
News of Churchill's win and her letter to Obama jammed the Internet, attracting notice of HU alumni after the story aired on WVEC-TV 13 and circulated on social networking sites.
Churchill told the news station at Saturday's Hampton versus Howard University football game that her mother is 100 percent Italian and her father is from Guam. In her letter to the president, she called herself Hawaiian.
Arthur A. Turner Jr., a 1982 graduate who lives in Prince George's County, Md., received an e-mail about her win and said he disagrees with those complaining that Churchill isn't black and doesn't attend the main campus.
"She represents the entirety of the university, the alumni, the faculty, the staff, the students," Turner said. "All of that is on her shoulders, including the Virginia Beach and main campus. I am confident she will do an extremely good job of representing us."
Turner added that the alumni of his era that he's spoken with fully support Churchill and the change she brought to HU's tradition.
"We now have to move forward in our thinking because the world is different, America is different, and we have all been fighting for change," he said. "And as we continue that fight, we must be accepting of the things that we fight for."
Churchill is not the first non-black student to be crowned at a historically black college. In April, Kentucky State University student Elisabeth Martin won the 80th homecoming queen election, making her the first white student to win.
She, too, experienced some negativity on campus and gossip online, she said in an interview with The ( Frankfort, Ky.) State-Journal. Some people told her that she can't relate to the experience of black women, but Martin said that as a woman, she knows what women go through.
"I may not have the background for all of that, but I'm more than willing to learn," Martin told The State-Journal. "I don't have all the answers, but I'm more than willing to listen, to hear the stories. I want to be someone who cares."
Copyright © 2009, Newport News, Va., Daily Press
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