Alpha Phi Alpha organized the first Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant at Longwood University on Saturday, Jan. 28 in Jarman auditorium. Complemented by a performance by FIERCE, the night proved to be successful and fun for both contestants and audience members alike.
The Miss Black and Gold Pageant sought to find "the most ambitious woman," as stated by deputy of the chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Justin Wilkes.
Pageant chairman for the Alpha Phi Alpha chapter Brandon Readus said, "I've basically been working with the girls and have just been getting them prepared … The interest meeting was on November the ninth, and ever since then, we've been practicing about five nights a week, two hours a day, getting ready for it."
The contestants included Brittany Mabry, Jordan Bayless and Christa Brown. To apply and be accepted as a contestant for the pageant, a few guidelines needed to be met, including holding a GPA of at least 2.5 and holding a good standing with the university.
The judges included Director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Dr. Jamie Riley, Residence Education Coordinator Marjorie G. G. Griffin and Director of the Robert Russa Moton Museum Lacy Ward Jr. Special guests included chapter adviser Tony T. Moss and Bridgette White, who was Miss Black and Gold 2006-07 and Miss Black Virginia 2008-09.
The competitive rounds of the event included a swimsuit round, a talent round, a formal round and a question and answer portion.
Introducing the swimsuit round, "An ambitious woman is confident enough to wear a swimsuit in January with no hesitation. The judges will be considering form, figure, posture and courage as an overall evaluation," said Wilkes.
Meanwhile, the talent portion was scored "based on originality, technical ability, appropriateness of selection and costume."
Wilkes added, "The judges will be looking for ability to articulate, her wit and intelligence, imagination and ability to think on her feet" when describing the question and answer round.
"The winner of tonight's competition will receive a scholarship towards her academics this semester," said Wilkes. "Last but not least, the winners will also be driving to Richmond in February to represent the Xi Zeta Chapter of Longwood as she competes against winners of other chapters in Virginia."
Riley said that his hopes were "that they found a young woman to represent the fraternity … I think we found [her]."
By the end of the event, six individual awards were awarded to the contestants, including Miss Swimwear 2011-2012, which was awarded to Brown, Miss Talent 2011-2012, which was awarded to Brown, Miss Fortune 500 2011-2012 who was the contestant who raised the most money before the event for the scholarship, which was awarded to Mabry, Second Runner Up or Miss Gold 2011-2012, which was awarded to Mabry, First Runner Up or Miss Gold 2011-2012, which was awarded to Bayless and lastly the winner of the event or Miss Black and Gold, which was awarded to Christa Brown.
Congratulations to all of the contestants and to the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha for their hard work to make the first Miss Black and Gold Scholarship Pageant a success.
