The Red and Black

Issue date: 11/12/07 Section: News

Media Credit: JAKE DANIELS Gabriel Zaragoza, a sophomore international affairs major from Atlanta, and Veronica Crawford, a senior psychology major from Augusta, are crowned Mr. and Miss Latin UGA at the Georgia Hall in the Tate Center on Friday. [Click to enlarge]

Gabriel Zaragoza was crowned Mr. Latin UGA and Veronica Crawford received the title of Miss Latin UGA.

The Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc. held its second annual Mr. and Miss Latin UGA pageant Friday.

Natalia Suarez, president of Lambda Theta Alpha Latin Sorority Inc., said the sorority came up with the idea for the pageant in spring 2006 because it wanted events that would impact the University campus in a positive way.

"We wanted to host an event that would promote Latino Unity and make the campus more aware of the differences within the Latino culture," Suarez said in an e-mail.

The pageant was divided into three sections: cultural attire, talent and questions.

The cultural attire portion required the eight contestants to dress in traditional Latin clothing. Contestants' costumes ranged from gauchos to a native Aztec imperial costume.

The talent portion of the pageant included musical performances, original poems, dancing, a monologue and a stand-up comedy routine.

The question and answer section of the pageant offered some insight into the personalities of the contestants.

Contestants were asked questions such as, "What is one of your childhood dreams that you wish could come true?" and "If you could make up a name for a crayon to describe your personality, what would it be and why?"

The six judges for the pageant were University employees and professors.

"Our pageant is unique because it has both male and female contestants - We chose to have both females and males because one of the pageant's goals is to expose Latino pride and unity regardless of gender," Suarez said in an e-mail.

"I didn't expect to win - I just went up there to have fun. The experience was all I wanted even if I didn't win," said Gabriel Zaragoza, Mr. Latin UGA and a University sophomore.

"I was one of the most nervous people there. As far as winning, I was just doing it because I thought it would be fun," said Veronica Crawford, Miss Latin UGA and a University senior.

Zaragoza said he wants to continue to promote diversity on campus.

"I see us really bringing the knowledge that there are Latinos on campus who are involved and active," he said.

Suarez said the sorority plans to continue to hold the event and improve it in years to come.

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