Queen of halls: Residential Life and Housing Host First Annual Pageant

Residential Life and Housing Appreciation week was filled with a multitude of events for students to participate in this past week. On April 5, Residential Life hosted a pageant where ladies from each dormitory got the chance to compete for a first place prize. Among those contestants were a range of all classifications. Totty Hall resident, Tyshone’ Dewey, explained why she enjoyed the event so much .
“It was way different from the other pageants. People were actually enjoying themselves,” said Dewey.
The event started with a small recap of the residential life step show from a few days before. A performance from Shade Hall’s step team got the audience engaged and ready to see more. An introduction of the contestants briefly followed. There were seven contestants in total that fought for the right to get the chance to call themselves Miss 2016-2017 Miss Residential Life Queen.
The swim suit portion allowed contestants to show off their best swim wear and immediately following that was the talent portion. The ladies each performed and showcased different talents both individually and conjoined. Some of the crowd’s favorites consisted of Freshman, Breonna Champagne’s compilation of Beyoncé songs and Sophomore Alana Stevenson’s own rendition of Aaliyah songs.
“I liked Alana’s performance the most. She really has a beautiful voice,” said Sierra Murdock of Baton Rouge Louisiana.
The last portion of the pageant included a series of verbal questions. Each lady was given the opportunity to answer at least one question each. This allowed the audience and judges to become a little more familiar with the contestants. Based on the swim suit, talent show, and verbal questions a winner was chosen. The judges selected Stevenson as their 2016-2017 Miss Residential Life. Stevenson is an 18 year old sophomore Animal Science Pre-Med major from Monroe, Louisiana.
“I think the pageant was great, it turned out really well and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. I’m ecstatic about winning the pageant. I’m blessed. I worked really hard and I am glad that I won,” explained Stevenson.
After the winner was announced, the DJ played a series of Louisiana native’s favorite songs including New Orleans Bounce Music. As always, the New Orleans Bounce spin on Anita Baker’s “No One In The World” got the crowd to their feet. With the help of the hall directors, house mothers, and RA’s the pageant wouldn’t have been possible.
“This event was great, we had a great turn out, the contestants were fantastic, and I loved it,” said Breauna Coke, an Elementary Education major from Las Vegas, Nevada.
Be on the lookout for more pageants and festivities during the next few weeks.