After a week filled with events, Unity Week came to a close with the naming of a king and queen at the Unity Week Pageant on Saturday night in Pruis Hall.
Javonte Anderson, a junior business administration major, and Sarah Mitchem, a senior advertising major, were named king and queen, respectively.
The pageant featured an opening dance number performed by all 10 contestants, contestant introductions, talent displays, more dancing and contestants' answers to impromptu questions. Anderson said about 500 people were in attendance.
"I was incredibly nervous before the performance, but once we got into the intro dance – which we'd been practicing for weeks – I felt this big sigh of relief," Anderson said. "After that it was fun, just to get to showcase who you are ... and exude your personality."
Anderson said the pageant had nothing to do with beauty, or even popularity; it was about representing the community as a whole.
Anderson and Mitchem said promoting community togetherness was the point of Unity Week, which included events such as speaker Michelle Bernard, a Unity Ball, an Art Gala and a book drive.
"[Unity Week] puts out there all of the organizations that are involved, showing how people work better together than separately and how when people work together they can get more accomplished," Mitchem said. "It's an eye-opener. I would like to see more of the campus come out to our events during Unity Week next year."
Anderson said while the pageant was a fun experience and the title of Unity King is a profound responsibility, the other events he attended during Unity Week did more to help change his outlook on the world.
He said he credits the Unity March and a video presentation he attended on Sunday with making him more aware of the struggles all types of people must face when they encounter closed-mindedness or hate.
"In some way, shape or form, whether we're white, black or Latino we all have to cope with problems," Anderson said. "We all have to understand and most importantly respect one another."
Anderson said he learned a lot about the struggles of the gay and lesbian movements as well as the past triumphs of the women's suffrage movement. He encouraged all students to try and relate to those who are discriminated against and recommended students consider attending some of the campus' multicultural organizations to gain an understanding and a love for those who are different from them.
"The only way you can understand is through acquiring knowledge or information about those people before you come to a decision [or judge them,]" Anderson said. "After you have that understanding and knowledge, you have to have that respect to understand that people are different. Whether you agree or not, you must respect."
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