Campbellsville University’s (CU) Valentine’s Pageant began in 1942, and it’s been an ongoing tradition for 82 years. CU’s Student Government Association (SGA), which organizes the event, has noticed a decline in participation and attendance in recent years. SGA President Shelby Bollinger said she and her team did their best to promote the event this year.
“We promoted through social media, we reached out to organizations on campus and, of course, we sent emails to all of the students,” Bollinger said.
However, the CU student body did not seem very interested. Only three candidates participated this year. During the past 10 years, the lowest number of participants was in 2018, 2021 and 2023 with six young women competing. The highest number of participants was in 2016 with 11.
According to Bollinger, pageants are still viewed as beauty and talent competitions by the young generation.
“I think that there’s a lot that goes into pageants and a lot of people don’t see it, or at least they underestimate it,” Bollinger said. “The bonds that the girls make through rehearsal, calming each other’s anxieties and sharing their life are wonderful.”
To attract more people, Bollinger thought about promoting the event earlier next year.
“Yes, me and my team promoted the event, but probably next year we would start earlier to have a bigger impact on students that want either to participate or attend,” she said.
Amber Meade, CU alumna who now works in the marketing and communications department at CU, participated in the Valentine’s Pageant in 2015, 2016 and 2018.
“The big reason why I did it was because I got to hang out with friends and meet new people,” Meade said. “I had so much fun walking on the stage, performing my talent and getting to put on a pretty dress and have fun with other girls.”
Meade said the recent decline in participation could be due to the Covid 19 pandemic.
“So many things have been happening, but the pandemic definitely stopped the rhythm of life,” she said. “That period completely changed our everyday and our way to see things.”
Meade suggested a change of narrative regarding this event might encourage more girls to participate.
“I think everyone should have the ability to do it if they want to, especially to get out of their comfort zone,” Meade said.
Makenna Meeks, a senior at CU and winner of this year’s pageant, said she’s been participating in pageants since she was 6 months old.
“The biggest change I can see in myself is confidence,” Meeks said. “Pageants helped me develop my own personality and taught me to be confident in myself and that it is perfectly okay to be my authentic self.”
There are a variety of reasons why attendance and participation in the Valentine’s Pageant could have declined during the past several years, according to Meeks.
“Maybe a lot of people didn’t realize the pageant was the Friday before Valentine’s Day,” she said. “I know a lot of sickness was going around campus, maybe people had other events to attend like other clubs, sporting events, etc., or they simply were not aware of the pageants tradition here at CU.”
The stereotypical view of pageants is no longer accurate, according to Meeks.
“I feel the stigma around pageantry needs to change,” Meeks said. “Once people change their mindset from pageants are just about looks and start viewing them as an opportunity to meet new people, learn valuable speaking skills, and as an avenue to push themselves outside their comfort zone to grow as a person is when pageants will start attracting more people.”
Meeks will be representing CU in the Kentucky Mount Laurel Festival Pageant May 22-25.
“I am very excited about this new experience of my life,” she said. “The amount of opportunities I have got from pageants are endless. Without pageants I would have never got the opportunity to meet people from all over the country and state and wouldn’t have had the modeling opportunities I’ve been blessed with.”
