By Brittany Wiscombe
Each year local young women have the chance to showcase their talents on stage in a college beauty pageant – but not at BYU.
Thursday, Feb. 6, Utah Valley State College will crown Miss UVSC in correlation with their Homecoming week.
BYU has been without a Homecoming Queen since 1987, when Mark Crockett, the BYUSA president, led the student council in conducting a survey on whether or not the BYU pageant should be continued.
The verdict was no.
When the Miss BYU pageant was discontinued, the criteria were interview, talent, and speech. Now, there is a stronger emphasis on talent in our college performance programs and in the Miss America Pageant System.
Miss UVSC and the former Miss BYU pageant function under the Miss America Organization.
Tonight, the Ragan Theater on UVSC campus will host talents that have been a lifetime in the making.
Alexis Miner, the current UVSC titleholder, will perform her talent for the last time before she passes on the crown. Miner is a member of the UVSC ballroom dance team and will be performing a flamenco dance number.
“I dance six hours a day,” Miner said. “It”s a full-time job.”
Miner said there is a need to educate the community that a pageant is more than just a pretty face.
“Performing talents on stage brings an awareness to the community that there are talents that can be displayed to raise self-esteem in others,” Miner said.
The Miss America Organization recently changed the title of the ”talent” portion to ”artistic expression”.
Heather Ferguson, a contestant in the Miss UVSC pageant, said the new title invites more young women to participate by sharing their talents.
“Anyone with a passion to make a difference can participate in a pageant,” Ferguson said. “Your body and your mind change when you express yourself through an art form. The audience then can see what the talent piece means to the performer.”
The artistic expression part of the pageant is often a reflection of what the college or community has to offer.
“I think it is very important for people to perform their talents on a stage and express these sometimes hidden talents,” Ferguson said. “Especially in Utah County, the women surrounding us are so talented.”
But not all talents are the stereotypical song and dance number.
“I have seen many unique talents over the years,” Rebeka Ralph, director of the Miss UVSC pageant, who has worked with the pageant for 11 years said. “I have had some contestants yodel, do a charcoal drawing on stage, show a video of them playing sports, or even do a ventriloquist act.”
A pageant is an outlet for young women to display hard work without having to audition for a chance to perform.
Many students in the Provo/Orem area, look for opportunities to attend talent performances. Some will have to look to the UVSC campus if seeking pageant talent.
In a debate on whether or not to bring the BYU pageant back to Homecoming activities, students have differing opinions.
“I don”t think it is necessary to have a pageant on campus,” said Josh Hicks a junior, majoring in chemical engineering. “My first impression is not talent, but simply that the winner would be good looking. It is too hard to narrow down all the talent we have here at BYU.”
However, some students see the positive that comes from pageants.
“It”s a good idea where the women at our university could show off their various talents,” said Paul Iverson a sophomore majoring in biochemistry, from Dallas. “I feel that it would be a positive if BYU had a pageant.”
