It’s that time of year again! Applications are now available to all interested young women for the upcoming Miss WCU Pageant. The Miss WCU Pageant is not your typical pageant. It originated in 1998, and is a student-run spectacle held annually to recognize women of West Chester University in the areas of academics, service, school spirit, talent, interview and leadership. Each contestant is also required to choose a community service platform to which they are dedicated. All onstage competition is based on personality, sense of inner beauty, pride, confidence and presentation. The scoring is as follows: 40 percent stage interview, 30 percent talent, 15 percent casual wear, 15 percent evening wear and 5 percent onstage questions. The winner of this year’s competition will be the eighth title holder.
April Hannigan was crowned last year’s winner. She is a senior with a major in Elementary Education and a minor in dance. She is also a member of the WCU Dance Team and the Dance Production workshop. She encourages all women to apply to the Miss WCU competition. “Any eligible young woman on this campus should want to apply for Miss WCU. This program gives university students a chance to speak out about passionate issues and represent the university in a positive way. This program has truly changed my life, and I have really tried to make a difference in the area,” says Hannigan. During her reign, April made an astounding number of appearances throughout the community. In October alone, she worked with the Boy Scouts of Chester County, the West Chester Halloween Parade, the Kennett Square Halloween Parade, the Exton Mall Trick-or-Treat,and Boscov’s Friends Helping Friends Project, to name a few.
Due to the fact that her mother battles with Multiple Sclerosis, April chose “MSAwareness” to be her community service platform. She worked very closely on the platform throughout the year and was recognized for her work by being named an Ambassador for the Greater Philadelphia MS Society. “When choosing a platform, the contestant should really think about what is most important to them. They should really want to be able to implement their platform and focus their year of reign on a topic that has affected them,” advises Hannigan. Michael Hartman is the founder and director of the Miss WCU Pageant. “When people hear the word ‘pageant,’ they get so many stereotypes in their head.
But the Miss WCU program is much more than your standard beauty queen stereotype,” expresses Hartman. Another great asset of this competition is that last year, over $3,000 in scholarships and prizes were awarded to the contestants.
Interested students can pick up an application at the front desk of any residence hall, or at Sykes. After the application process, contestants will be chosen to compete in the pageant. All ticket proceeds will go towards the advancement of the new Miss WCU platform during her year of service. For further questions about the program, students may send an e-mail to misswestchesteruniv@yahoo.com.