Miss Millersville:
Beauty Pageant or Fun Competition?
'Beauty' is in the eye …
Competition draws about 20 protesters
By Michael Yoder, Staff
Intelligencer Journal
Published: Mar 01, 2007 1:45 AM EST
<>MILLERSVILLE, Pa. -
Organizers
for Wednesday night's first-ever Miss Millersville 2007 competition
declared the event a success despite — or maybe because of — the
protesters it drew. "(The event) has really worked out in our favor,
and partially thanks to the protesters," Kristi Fulkerson, competition
organizer and president of MUTV, said. "I was thinking about thanking
them at the end of the show, but I'm not sure if that's appropriate." She
said the media attention given to the protesters — who announced their
intentions before the event — helped publicize the competition. About
20 protesters stood outside the Student Memorial Center holding signs
such as "M.U. into the 21st century." Katharine Coffman, a sophomore
chemistry and computer science major, helped organize the demonstration
against the event she viewed as a "beauty pageant." "I'm trying to make
eye contact with everyone that walks in just so they know that here I
am, I'm a person and I have a message for you," Coffman said. Inside
the Reighard Multi-Purpose Room, a standing-room-only crowd cheered as
representatives from 13 campus groups took the stage as part of the
fundraiser for MUTV, the Millersville television station. Brina
Williams, the representative of Helping PAWS, was named the winner.
Fulkerson said the event was a little nerve-wracking but she was
excited to pull it off after four months of planning. Fulkerson met
Monday with Coffman to discuss the competition. "Neither of us were
there to change each other's mind," Fulkerson said. "To each his own —
or her own, I should say." Fulkerson said she came up with the idea for
the event last semester as a way to raise funds to buy new equipment
for MUTV. She said MUTV earned a good deal of money from the
competition. Diana Klein, a sophomore communications major and the
representative for the Millersville swim team in the competition, said
she didn't understand why people were protesting. "This isn't a serious
pageant," Klein said. "It's for girls to show their confidence. And I
think there's more important issues for people to worry about than
something silly." Coffman said she was surprised more people weren't
making comments as they walked by the protesters. She said her main
goal for protesting was not to attack MUTV or Fulkerson. She said she
simply wanted to show how concepts such as "thin is in" are ingrained
into society and people alter their bodies to fit impossible concepts
of beauty. "We're raising awareness," Coffman said. "(The students)
can't have their eyes closed about it because we're right here with
florescent green (signs). We're hard to miss. "It's billed everywhere
as the first annual, and I hope that it's the last annual."
Protesters outside the SMC Miss Millersville 2007 Contestants Perform on Stage
Protesters outside the SMC Miss Millersville 2007 Contestants Perform on Stage
