Crowning of first non-black Miss Hampton University divides campus

[Blue_Tires]

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.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-local_misshamptonu_1013oct13,0,2260617.story

it's been a huge shitstorm locally...i always thought HU was beyond all this, but some old attitudes die hard, i guess...

[Karenina]

1. It's a very old and very deep wound that hasn't healed.

And I doubt seriously that "Good Hair" will help...

[Raineyb]

2. That's not going to sit well, having the new Miss HU write a letter to the

President to lecture a black student body in racial tolerance?

I don't think that's going to sit well at all.

On a completely different note, why do we still have these pageants? After working hard to make your intelligence appreciated to get involved in a contest which, despite what the promoters of such venues consistently insist, is based on how one looks seems to be a step backwards.

[Blue_Tires]

3. yeah, that letter threw a LOT of gas on the fire....

[Number23]

6. good point about the letter, Rainey

[Fire1]

4. My girlfriend's daughter was crowned in 2006 or 07 and my

cousin was crowned Miss Tennessee State many years ago. I think it's a matter of tradition more than anything else and the scholarships certainly don't hurt.

[SemperEadem]

5. that sure was a boneheaded approach to take

tell on the student body? What is it about HER, other than her skin color and hair grade, that made her stand out above the other contestants? To me, that would be a far more important to pose and get answered rather than to distract from that by telling on the school to the president in the hopes of having him come there and fight her fight for her.

Why can't she lead by example? Why can't she be the one to bridge that gap? Is she too stupid to do that and the complaints about her winning due to how she looks are actually valid? Sometimes, the guilty make the most noise.

[Raineyb]

8. According to the article the woman who won doesn't attend the main

campus which apparently is also a sore point in this case. Some of the reaction seems to be, as the winner of the pageant is also automatically the homecoming queen, we don't know who she is how can she represent our school?

There seems to be quite a bit going on that's not only to do with race although it would appear that the new Miss HU is concentrating on that aspect.

[HamdenRice]

7. It would be nice if Vanessa Williams or Suzette Charles went there to address this

Their perspectives as the first Black Miss Americas might help -- although the Williams scandal makes it somewhat bitter as well.

[Brewman_Jax]

9. Read the article

and I can see that there are some VERY unhappy people. Black people get met with negative comments because of skin color on a regular basis for the past 400 years to the present and that was the reason the HBCU's, and a lot of other all-black institutions, had to be created. The letter was like throwing gasoline on a fire, not a good move. :eyes:

I thought that we were beyond the era of pageants. :shrug:

[Blue_Tires]

10. update: HU bans media at Miss Hampton University coronation

HAMPTON - Hampton University banned all media from attending Wednesday's coronation of Miss Hampton University, saying it was turning into a "paparazzi event."

Nikole Churchill, 22, became the first nonblack Miss HU when she was crowned two weeks ago. National media reported on the controversy that erupted after she wrote a letter to President Barack Obama stating her win was not widely accepted because she is not black.

Two days letter, the senior nursing major issued a statement through HU to say she regrets writing the letter and had blown the reaction of a few peers out of proportion.

On Monday, the university granted the Daily Press permission to attend Churchill's coronation, which is part of Homecoming Week activities. However, spokeswoman Yuri Milligan called an hour before the event Wednesday to say HU was banning all media from the event because it was "turning into a spectacle."

The decision was made after employees of national news outlets called to say they were on the way to the coronation, Milligan said. All reporters and photographers who attempted to enter the coronation in Ogden Hall, including those from the Daily Press, were turned away at the doors.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/hampton/hampton-university/dp-local_misshu_1022oct22,0,140566.story