Life is Precious - Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.

&
Crowns
Controversy
By Natasha Hopkins
A motivator and ground breaker, Soror
Sylvia Dionne Brown, 22, is the first in
Livingstone College history to run for
queen, twice. Soror Brown competed
in 2008 and came in a close second,
but she had the courage to see beyond
the loss and run for Miss Livingstone a
second time in 2009 and win.
Soror Brown has a 3.3 GPA and
actively participates in the Livingstone
College Concert Choir, band, Student
Government Association, SIFE and
other clubs and organizations.
Soror Brown could never imagine
her dream of being crowned Miss
Livingstone College would be met with
controversy. She believes in following
your dream, even when there are others
trying to suppress your true desires.
Despite many adversities, she has
persevered to become a more confident
young woman who focuses on “Greater
Service, Greater Progress” and the true
calling God has for her life—and that
is “to be a leader and not a follower, the
head and not the tail, and a lender, not a
borrower.”
AURORA: Can you tell me a little bit
about the situation regarding your
crowning as Miss Livingstone College?
Every year the young woman to be
crowned Miss Livingstone is allowed
to plan her coronation. Planning for
coronation is similar to planning a
wedding: you get to decide the theme and
what the coronation is going to look like.
I wanted to theme my coronation, “A
Castle of Dreams, a RHOyal Fairytale.”
Some members of other sororities claimed
to be offended by the title, specifically
the RHO in RHOyal, and felt it
was not inclusive of the Livingstone
community and exclusive to members
of Sigma Gamma Rho. These women
planned boycotting the ceremony and
began spreading rumors regarding the
situation. I was later told by one of my
sorors that a member of another sorority
told her not to eee-yip during the actual
crowning. The young woman said it was
in bad taste and inappropriate to make
such calls. Several Greek women have
been crowned Miss Livingstone in years
past, and making calls was never an
issue. I was offended that people could
have such animosity towards me.
AURORA: Why did you want to be Ms.
Livingstone College?
I wanted to Miss Livingstone because
there needs to be a strong, businessminded
Christian woman representing
the organization. This position gets
lots of recognition and allows me to
be a better example for young women
everywhere my age.
AURORA: After you ran last year, why
did you run again?
When I ran in 2008, I was not a
member of a sorority and won first
attendant. I lost by only a small margin
of votes. I firmly believe that if you
have a mission, your mission needs to
be completed. You can’t let setbacks
deter (you) from your goal. I decided
to run again to fulfill my goal of being
an example for all woman-kind. I met
resistance from other students who felt
I had served my time as first attendant
and needed to leave the opportunity
for others to run. Ironically only two
women qualified to campaign for Miss
Livingstone. With this being known, I
still met opposition from others although
no one else stepped up to the plate.
AURORA: Why is your win so historic?
My win is historic for two reasons. First,
I am the first woman to run twice. I got
first runner-up my first attempt, ran
again, and WON. Secondly, I am the
first member of Sigma Gamma Rho to
ever run and win ever in the history of
Livingstone College.
AURORA: Are most of the Miss
Livingston candidates usually members
of a sorority?
From my recollection, there have always
been Greeks who ran and very few instances
in which a Greek wasn’t crowned. It
essentially has become a popularity contest.
38