'Miss Harvard' Pageant in Works

In a comic competition for the “Miss Harvard” title, Harvard women—and men in drag—will prance down the catwalk in evening wear and heels to the tune of “I’m Too Sexy” next month.

But despite beginning to advertise the event on Tuesday, organizers have yet to hammer out key details such as when and where the pageant will take place, or who will pick the reigning campus queen.

While 1950s Radcliffe students contended for the “Miss Radcliffe” title, the woman or man who wins this year’s competition will be the first ever to be crowned “Miss Harvard.”

The pageant, which will include swimwear, evening wear and talent competitions, is sponsored by IMPACT, a student group which raises funds for poor children in developing nations.

“We will have a battle of the sexes to see who is better at being a woman,” said Hunter A. Maats ’04, an IMPACT member who is helping to plan the pageant.

Planners originally billed the pageant as the “Miss Crimson” competition, but said they changed the name after receiving permission to use the University’s name from Coordinator of Student Activities Susan T. Cooke on Tuesday.

“We thought that Miss Crimson didn’t have the same ring,” said IMPACT President Laura P. Perry ’04.

IMPACT Events Co-Chair Gretchen R. Passe ’03 said the competition is supposed to be “humorous” and that—unlike ordinary beauty competitions—“the objectification of women probably won’t be a problem, because we hope to lighten it with drag.”

The Radcliffe Union of Students (RUS) has not taken a formal position on the pageant.

However, RUS Publicity Chair Jessica M. Rosenberg ’04 said that news of the pageant raised an initial “red flag” for her.

“I just hope whoever’s doing it is sensitive to the fact that beauty pageants can be really loaded issues for women,” Rosenberg said.

The pageant has already sparked the interest of many students.

Competition will likely be fierce for the pageant’s approximately 15 spots. According to Perry, 10 interested Cabot House residents replied within an hour to an e-mail advertising the pageant on the Cabot-open e-mail list.

Response was similarly strong in several other Houses. But the pageant might be most popular among first-years.

“Freshmen so far have been especially keen,” Maats said.

IMPACT hopes to convince prominent members of the Faculty and administration—including University President Lawrence H. Summers—to serve as judges for the competition.

Event planners have yet to find a venue, although they say the pageant will likely take place in a House dining hall.

“One of the things we’re concerned about is cost,” Perry said.

IMPACT, whose current projects include fundraising money for an orphanage in China, hopes to garner approximately $1,000 from selling tickets to the event.

The pageant is tentatively slated for March 15.

—Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.