The Miss Unity pageant was held Saturday, with junior TaNesha Moore taking home the crown.
She paid tribute through song to those who had affected her life, showing pictures of her father and various celebrities who had inspired her to success.
Six women competed in the three-and-a-half hour pageant, which featured dance scenes, individual talent performances, a question and answer session, and an escort scene.
All told, the pageant went off well.
It's just that the culminating event of Unity Week featured only one race.
If the goal of Unity Week is to promote diversity, doesn't homogeny in any event defeat the purpose?
Come to think of it, isn't homogeny the exact opposite of diversity?
Michelle Hudson, Miss Unity 2002, said the goal of Miss Unity is to promote diversity and unity on Ball State's campus.
"My favorite part was getting to encourage other people," Hudson said.
However, with only one race represented in the pageant, it might seem that Miss Unity is leaving out some people.
Then again, it's not Miss Unity's job to make people attend or compete in these events.
The easy answer is to suggest that for future Unity Week competitions, its organizers should find new ways to attract more members of all races, not just one.
However, if a campus is simply not interested - or worse, not diverse enough - the organizers will have a difficult time.
Unity Week has good intentions. It's just that those intentions don't always yield results.
Congratulations to TaNesha Moore. Please encourage others of all races to compete next year, and consider the messages that are sent by a homogenous Miss Unity pageant.
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