Dressed in white dresses with their heads held high, nine ladies prepare to take the stage for the 45th annual Miss Black EIU Scholarship Pageant.

The theme of this year’s pageant is “Rise of the Roses: An Affair Tribute and Transformation.”

The event will be at 6 p.m. Saturday in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union Grand Ballroom. The tickets for the pageant are $10.

The Miss Black EIU pageant arrived on Eastern’s campus in 1971.

Jessica Stallworth, contestant No.1, said she joined the pageant because she wanted to do something that would benefit herself.

Martina Austin, contestant No. 8, said this pageant was something that was completely out of her comfort zone, so she is doing it to find who she is.

Julianne Adegoriolu, contestant No. 5, said this pageant is a way to tell her story in a positive light.

“I was so worried about balancing school and being on an executive board,” Adegoriolu said. “I also had doubts in myself. I did not know if I was capable of being so full of courage to go out there and actually tell my story.”

Adegoriolu said this pageant is important for her because this is the first time her mom will hear her story and the things that have happened to her.

“This pageant means so much to me because it has made me grow and look back on life and be so grateful,” Adegoriolu said.

Salonje Dorsey, contestant No. 3, said she joined this pageant because she worked behind-the-scenes for the last two and now has enough confidence to be an actual contestant.

She said she was supposed to participate in the pageant last year, but decided not to.

Dorsey said she had doubts about participating in the pageant because she was so nervous.

Austin said this pageant taught her perseverance and it has been a good journey for her.

“I earned my name Relentless Valor for a reason,” Austin said. “I overcame every obstacle that was thrown my way.”

Dorsey said participants have to be confident and open to get in front of a large crowd at such an important event and be able to discuss the topics that her and her pageant sisters will discuss.

Austin said she never imagined being able to get in front of a large group of people and reveal so much about herself.

“This pageant taught me that you are who you are for a reason, and you have to be ready to learn something new about yourself everyday,” Stallworth said.

Dorsey said winning is not her goal for the pageant.

Her goal is to open up about who she is and what her story is.

She said if she does not win she would not be upset.

“I want the audience to know that your purpose has yet to come, and when it does come embrace it with everything that you have,” Adegoriolu said.

Stallworth said there are often many misconceptions about pageants.

She said these misconceptions will not be discredited until people see what the pageant is for themselves.

“Initially, I thought pageants were based on beauty and looks,” Stallworth said. “When I joined this pageant, I saw the true beauty of it, and what it was really about.”

Dorsey said she thought that all pageants were like beauty pageants.

“This pageant is not about how you look,” Dorsey said. “Miss Black EIU is about what your message is, and what you are trying to get the audience on campus to learn about you.”

Dorsey said Miss Black EIU is a platform given to black women that they could not get anywhere else in the university.

“Yes, a pageant does give you confidence, but it also gives you the ability to think on a deeper level, to be humble and to be kind to others,” Adegoriolu said.

Austin said she believes she embodies what it means to be Miss Black EIU.

She said she is strong, courageous and determined.

Austin said throughout the pageant she has been achieving goals that she thought would not be possible.

Dorsey said she would be discussing a topic that is taboo in the black community.

She said this topic is something that the black community really does not talk about, but needs to be aware of.

Stallworth said being involved in this pageant is not difficult or easy, but doable.

“This pageant helped me open up and be more confident in who I am as a woman,” Austin said.

Dorsey said African-American women who are watching this pageant could see this as a voice for them. She said even if some of the women who are listening are not confident enough to go out and tell their stories, they will know there is someone out there going through the same things that they are.

“I want everyone to know that life is a beautiful thing,” Adegoriolu said. “If you do not see your purpose right now, there will be a day that you wake up and it just clicks.”

Torri Griffith can be reached at 581-2812 or tlgriffith@eiu.edu