Annually at Texas A&M University-Commerce, the brothers of the Zeta Tau Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc. conduct a scholarship pageant. Allowing women ages 18-25 to compete for money funded towards her education at A&M-Commerce.
Ashley Ofuokwu was crowned A&M-Commerce’s 2008 Miss Black & Gold Scholarship Pageant winner. Ashley is a junior and transfer student from Coffeyville Community College in Kansas.Ofuokwu decided to participate in the pageant because of her past experience. “This August I participated in the Miss Nigeria Pageant in Los Angeles, CA. It was an amazing experience I had, so someone recommended I do Miss Black & Gold,” said Ofuokwu.
Ofuokwu. along with seven other contestants competed for the pageant title. Contestants were judged on how well they interviewed in front of judges, the amount of ads sold for the program booklet, their talent, evening gown and physical features in swim wear.
The black and gold pageant brought about expectations and great experiences. Ashley mentioned she went in the competition expecting to meet newpeople, “Which in turn was a great aspect, because we had the chance to develop relationships with women we do not know, have never seen or r only saw a couple of times,” Ofuokwu said.
Among the eight contestants, Ofuokwu stood out the most to the judges, therefore earning her the title of “2008 Miss Black & Gold.” Her unique talent played a major role in earning the title; Ofuokwu chose belly dancing as her talent.
“I began belly dancing this summer, I chose it as talent because it is unique and I assumed no one else would belly dance” said Ofuokwu.
The night of the pageant all the contestants were back stage a couple hours prior to the pageant prepping their hair and makeup in order to look their best for the judges.
As human beings we tend to get nervous before big events and many thoughts run through our minds but for Ofuokwu, this was not the case.
“I was not nervous at all because we practiced so much. I remained confident and I was eager and excited to show off the hard work we put in,” said Ofuokwu.
The Miss Black & Gold pageant was separated into two events, the first part guests got to watch the young ladies put on a show. After the pageant, guests joined the contestants for the ball in the Texas Ballroom.
The ball is where guests could chow down on finger foods and socialize before the winners were announced. Before Miss Black & Gold was announced as winner, Miss Congeniality, first and second runners-up were announced, then everyone, including the contestants waited with anticipation to hear who had won the crown.
“It was really fulfilling and exciting when I heard my name because I really worked hard. At that moment I felt like my hard work had paid off and I was seeing the outcome,” said Ofuokwu.Ofuokwu mentioned entering in the competition they were not required to have a platform as to what being Miss Black & Gold meant.
“I am going to utilize my own initiative to encourage volunteerism on this campus and to successfully represent Alpha Phi Alpha, the first African American fraternity founded in this country,” said Ofuokwu.