Kvisler, Selak take honors

By Michelle Kunz

The 34th annual Miss Santa Clara scholarship pageant awarded two Santa Clara seniors and one recent graduate scholarships totaling almost $3,000 Saturday.

Seniors Noel Kvisler and Annie Selak, along with 2004 graduate Chandra Campbell, took first, second and third runners up, respectively. Selak, Santa Clara's Associated Student president, was presented with an additional award for "Miss Congeniality." Also participating in the pageant were Santa Clara freshman Christina Butera and sophomore Elece Trujillo.

The pageant started at 7 p.m. at the Santa Clara Community Recreation Center, 969 Kiely Blvd., with short performance by previous winners. Soon after, 14 smiling girls stepped onto the stage in black cocktail dresses to begin the scholarship contest.

After close to three hours of stage performance, evening wear and swimsuit competition, the smiles that may have initially been a result of nerves and excitement were now tired and forced. The winners were finally announced and though the new Miss Santa Clara, 23-year-old Laura Johnston, who isn't a Santa Clara student, Santa Clara's five contestants received the majority of awards.

"Santa Clara University really cleaned the house," senior Brandon Dow said after the competition as he scanned the gathering crowd for Campbell, his girlfriend and pageant participant.

The Miss Santa Clara competition started in 1921 and offers one of the largest scholarships of all California pageants, organizers say. It is one of the top scholarship-awarding pageants in the nation, said Mary McCaman, Miss Santa Clara Auxiliary co-executive director.

"We receive our funding from the city of Santa Clara and we receive our facility for free, so we can offer high scholarships," said McCaman. Even contestants who are not in the top five still receive a minimum of $600 just for competing she said.

Because the amount of scholarship money offered by the Miss Santa Clara organization is greater than most, the competition attracts a different kind of contestant, McCaman said.

"Instead of girls who are competing solely for the title of Miss Santa Clara, many of the girls who participate in the program are doing it to earn money for school," McCaman said. "We don't get your typical pageant girl competing in Santa Clara."

Selak agrees. "In other pageants, if you're making nothing, you're there to win. We're not here because our dream is to be Miss California, we're here because we're students and we need scholarship money," Selak said, who has won over $2,000 since she began participating in the Miss Santa Clara program in 2003.

The money the contestants win through the competition must be used towards their education, and with Santa Clara's increasing tuition, "every little bit helps," Butera said.

Tuition at Santa Clara has risen about $5,000 in the past four years to $27,135 -- a figure that doesn't include housing, books and other expenses.

"I saw the flier about the scholarship money and I knew that it would be great," said Kvisler, who has participated in the program for the past three years. "But also, I want to go into broadcast journalism and what better way to prepare myself than to be in a judged interview and do the on-stage question? The main reason I continue to do it is I know it's going to help me in the future. The way I look at it is that it's practice for my career."

After months of preparation -- recruiting for the competition starts in September -- and countless hours spent rehearsing, the contestants have become very close, and their bond is apparent when they're on stage together.

"Each year the group has a different feel," Selak said. "This year, everyone's eating McDonald's in the back room. It's just completely the opposite of what you'd picture a pageant to be. Everyone's much more relaxed and much more low-key than you'd expect."

Like Kvisler, Butera, who is a theater and dance major, sees this competition as a way to improve her performing abilities and prepare for a future career.

"I think everyone in the back of their heads wants to win," said Butera, "but I don't think that's why they do it."