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By Erinn Gardner

On Oct. 21, the Resident Hall Association held their annual freshman pageant in the Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel. Seven hall queens from Spelman College representing each of the freshman Morehouse dorms (Graves, Living Learning Center, Mays, White, Brazeal, Hubert and Dubois)  competed for the title of Miss RHA. 

The residents of each hall, as well as the judges voted for the winner of the pageant: Miss RHA, Brooke Christina Marie Hayes–Miss Graves, followed by first attendant Genesis Price–Miss Hubert and second attendant Mikayla Jones–Miss LLC.

Hayes is an English major and an Art History minor. She also represents the Ethel Waddell Githii Honors Program.

In the RHA pageant, she wanted to have a voice for herself and amplify the voices at Morehouse. The Chicago native emphasized encouraging and uplifting her Morehouse brothers as they navigate their college journeys. 

She followed in her older sister Kennedy Hayes’ footsteps. Kennedy  won a handful of pageants—Miss Hubert, 1st attendant to Miss RHA, Miss 1906 and Miss Maroon and White— during her time at Spelman. 

“Now that I did this pageant, I would absolutely do another one if I were given the chance. The men of Graves, my sister, my parents, my mama queens, the e-board and everyone has been so supportive. I’ve just felt so loved, and they genuinely care,” Hayes said. 

Leading up to the pageant, the contestants campaigned to be the queen of one of the freshman Morehouse dorms. They knocked on countless doors to promote themselves, provided food and held events such as game night in order for the residents to get the opportunity to know them.

“When campaigning, I came to the dorm with snacks and drinks and I went door to door to talk to every single person on every floor. My mission was to focus on the mental health of the men living in Brazeal. I told them that we would take mental health days, but still hold fun events,” Mikayla Ruffin (Miss Brazeal) said. 

When the doors opened at 6:30pm., family and friends flooded the chapel in support of their loved ones. The hosts, Melvin Morgan and Taylor Mills hyped up the audience with their dance moves and charmed them with their wit as they introduced the queens’ intros, dances, talents and fish-bowl questions. 

The intros set the tone for the entire production;the crowd was able to gauge the queens’ personalities, and many decided who they were “rooting for” based on them. 

All of the talents, including singing, dancing, praise dancing and spoken word pieces had an effect on the audience. Whether people were crying or dancing, the audience was enraptured with the performances. 

Freshman dorm residents and the judges casted their votes in Google Forms. In addition to winning first attendant, Genesis Price also received the popularity award, while Jaleia Latson,Miss White, received the congeniality award. 

Madison Bradley served as the RHA Pageant director. She is a junior Economics major at Spelman. Bradley participated in the pageant her freshman year, and she directed this pageant because she wishes to pour into young women the same way her sisters poured into her. 

“As a director, I think my most memorable experience has been watching the progression. Seeing something get better in real time is just a crazy, but rewarding experience. It’s easy to want things for others but to see them wanting for themselves is just an amazing process,” Bradley said.  

Copy Edited by: Colin Royal, Managing Editor of Print