Miss Black and Gold is returning to the University of Southern California for the first time in eight years! After a COVID hiatus, USC’s Alpha Delta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. is once again active, and this month, they will be presenting one of their signature events that brings young professionals together to fundraise for their community.
Miss Black and Gold is a scholarship pageant for outstanding young women in each chapter’s community who have supported the chapter. The first Miss Black and Gold Pageant was sponsored by the National Alpha Phi Alpha Convention in New York City in 1976. Alpha Delta’s six contestants will be competing on February 19, 2023 at the Ronald Tutor Campus Center Ballroom for a grand prize of $3,000. Whichever contestant advances will receive the opportunity to compete at regional level in March, then nationals in June. The contestants practice twice a week for the categories of: interview, business, athleisure, talent and evening.
The six ladies competing for the crown are as follows:
Brianna Claverie is a senior studying health and human sciences with a minor in health care studies. She is from the wonderful city of New Orleans, Louisiana, and is sad to be missing Mardi Gras for the pageant, but excited to be here with her sisters. She wants to be crowned Miss Black and Gold so she can help the brothers of Alpha Delta coordinate events under their national programs, such as “Project Alpha,” and get others involved in their mission of providing service and advocacy for our communities.
Sasha Lawrence is a sophomore from Brooklyn, New York studying psychology with a minor in consumer behavior. Her favorite dessert is creme brulee. If she becomes the next Miss Black and Gold she would like to further Alpha Delta’s community engagement across campus and the greater South Los Angeles area using their initiatives framework. Lawrence hopes to partner with local organizations and improve the quality of life for students in K-12 and beyond, as well as their families.
Aaliyah Evans is a junior from the “Windy City” of Chicago, Illinois. Aaliyah majors in psychology, loves making deep fried Oreos and practicing self care. She hopes to use her passion for the youth and her future platform of Miss Black and Gold to further Alpha Phi Alpha’s national program “Go to High School, Go to College” and promote education in her community.
Alexandria Gee is a junior from Chicago, Illinois who studies communication with a minor in comedy performance and product design. Alexandria makes jewelry and art, dances in her free time and hopes to inspire other young women who look like her to showcase their most authentic self and realize their beauty. Gee also wants to work with Alpha Delta in creating programs that work with girls to bridge the gap between Black girls being uncomfortable around Black men. Gee thinks that this is important for children to see positive role models while also having the men show allyship to set the standard for other men to follow suit.
Jordan Coffer-Bryant is a junior from Washington, D.C., or “Chocolate City,” who loves chocolate ice cream. She hopes to inspire as many young girls as she can, emphasizing that if she can do it, so can they. She wants to teach them how important it is to be comfortable in their skin and be unapologetically you.
Siara Carpenter is a sophomore from Chicago, Illinois who studies journalism with a consumer behavior minor. In her free time, Siara does hair and loves to connect with the Black USC community. If chosen as Miss Black and Gold she would like to further integrate the Alpha Delta chapter into the USC and South Central community through volunteer work and outreach programs. As the author of this piece, social media coordinator and a contestant, Siara has spearheaded the Miss Black and Gold awareness campaign.
This year’s contestants are being coached by Meegan Jumfuoh, the 2010 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign champion who went on to win not only a regional title, but also represented Illinois in the Mid-Western Regional Conference.
“The Miss Black and Gold pageant brought out a level of confidence that I never knew that I had. Not only does it promote self-growth, confidence and exploring your talent, but it also creates and fosters sisterhood, friendship and networking,” Jumfuoh said. “When I knew that the Alpha Delta chapter was going to have their Miss Black and Gold pageant, it really was in my heart to reach out, as I wanted to support these young ladies who chose to go on this path for the very same reasons that I embarked on the journey 10 years ago, which was to uplift young Black women so that they can see themselves on a platform in a frame in which they’re not quite used to.”
The contestants have a lot of love for Jumfuoh. Contestant Brianna Claverie said that she has come more into herself — Jumfuoh has given her a home away from home. While none of the contestants are from California, they have become each other’s pseudo-family over the nine weeks they have been together.
The newfound community amongst the pageant court (the contestants and the brothers of Alpha Delta) means a lot to incumbent Alpha Delta President Justin Powell. “The Alphas hadn’t really been present at USC for the past couple of years, so we had a lot of work to be done to really spread the message of what our fraternity was about,” Powell said. While no one in the pageant had even participated in a pageant before, Powell is thankful for all of the smiles and dedication that everyone has put in. Powell intends to invest the funds they raised back into the South Central community through the local branch of their national programs.
Contestant Sasha Lawrence echoed Claverie’s sentiments of self confidence and overcoming social anxiety in saying, “I’ve gained a lot of confidence and courage and I’ve surprised myself. I’ve shown myself that I have definitely what it takes to not only conquer my fears, but to really rise to the occasion. In the beginning, I was a little bit unsure about doing a pageant, but since doing one, I’ve realized that I’ve got a lot more courage than I thought.” Lawrence and the other contestants love the sisterhood that has been formed throughout the rehearsal process saying that, “Miss Black and Gold has not only built confidence, but camaraderie.”
More about Alpha Phi Alpha:
Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. has a very long history. As the first Black fraternity, founded in 1906 at Cornell University, the seven founding men, fondly known as the seven jewels, decided that they wanted to promote brotherhood on a campus where not many people looked like them. Over the next 117 years, Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. expanded into having over 900 chapters and over 290,000 members across the world. Some notable members have been Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Duke Ellington, Lionel Richie and founder W.E.B DuBois. Their colors, black and gold, have been one of the key ways to identify brothers throughout centuries all united under the motto of “First of All, Servants of All, We Shall Transcend All.”
Now, why is this important? To me, as an Alpha’s daughter, I have seen the service that the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha have put into the betterment of their communities. Food, clothes and back to school drives were just some of the things I grew up taking part in with my dad. While they gave back to their communities, I also saw brotherly love between Black men, which is often not shown or appreciated. Brotherly love and support of each other expands into making sure everyone around them is taken care of, which is why their national programs revolve around taking care of elders in the community (Brother’s Keeper), registering members of the Black community to vote (A Voteless People is a Hopeless People), instilling the importance of education in young men (Go to High School, Go to College) and talking about taboo topics such as sexual health (Project Alpha). Being an Alpha Man is a lifetime commitment that starts in one’s college years. The brothers of USC’s Alpha Delta chapter have embodied these principles with help around South Central and USC such as their “Pack to School” drive, where they made backpacks for at-risk students. Unity in the Black community has always been important, and the men of Alpha Phi Alpha have always looked out for their community.
You don’t want to miss the first Miss Black and Gold in 8 years. Tickets can be found on Alpha Delta’s Instagram.