Miss Liberty

Pageants and contestsforwomen areaprominent part of America from the small town homecoming queen to Miss USA. From the time they walk untiltheyaremarried, contestantsparticipate inseveralofthesepageants, competing for money, prizes, scholarships, and the honor ofholding the title.

Libertyalsohasitsformofapageant.Itiscalled the Miss Liberty Pageant. Itoriginally started in 1974,and thetitlewas LibertyHomecoming Queen The homecoming pageantcontinued forfouryears In 1978 it became known as the Miss Liberty Pageant.

Lamar Keener, then Dean ofCommuting Students,startedthepageantsin1978 Itwas createdto honor agirl at Libertynotonly forherphysicalappearance,butalsoforherpersonality,involvement, achievements, academic ability, Christian testimony and service She was to best exemplify the "SpiritofLiberty"and possessthevirtuesofagodly woman spoken ofinProverbs31.

Mostofthequalificationsand procedures have remained thesame through theyears. MissLiberty has to be a single,senior girl whose cumulative grade point average is2.75 or above. Each senior chooses 10 girls who they feelbest exemplify the "Spirit of Liberty." The top fifty names are then passed to the faculty who narrow them to the 24 contestantsforthepageant Thejudges,consisting of faculty,administration and two seniors, then interview each girlpersonally and selectthe top ten finalists who are announced at the pageant. The judges further consider their performance whileon stagetonarrow them tofive.TheLiberty studentsinattendanceatthepageantaregiventhe final task of voting for one of the five finalists. Afterthevotesaretallied, thenew Miss Libertyis crowned.

The Miss Liberty Pageants have become larger and larger. Originally they were heldat Thomas Road Baptist Church, but in 1984, Bev Buffingtonmoved them totheMultipurposeCenter for reasons of convenience and seating. Bev Buffingtonisthehead ofactivitiesatLibertyandis thesoleproducer oftheMissLibertyPageant. Becauseofthegrowth ofthepageant, ithasdrawnin some very successfuland famous peopleforhosts and hostesseslikeKaren Morrison,Gary McSpadden, Kay DeKalb, Meredith McRae, Kim Boyce, Roger Breland, and Kelly Cash.

Thisyear was the twelfth annual pageant It hasbecome aprominent eventinthe homecoming activities Ithasgrown and changed from itsstartingpoint, but it still serves thepurpose forwhich it was created.

Fashion

The year 1989 stated individuality. Students could wear vintage cloths as well the newest stylesand still be "in."

Colors changed dramatically over thelast year, shiftingthefocusfrom brightto drab and bringing shades ofnavy, brown,olivegreen and mustard. Shades ofwine and purple replaced red, but black remained classic.

Fashion trendsatLU included pegging pants and wearing scarfs, boloties, split skirtsand ponytails.

Each student had more than one look ranging from athletic to dressy wear for classtocasual wear sported on dates.

On a fitness conscious campus many students donned sweat suits, umbros and aerobicwear.

The school dress ranged from sporty to classic and anything imaginable in between.

Casual wear meant jeans to comfortable dress wear, which could be seen atany non-academic function.

The diverseness offashion gave LU students plenty ofroom to express their individuality.

Jennifer Ferrell