Back in the 50's, 60's and 70's, the rivalry between the leading institutions of higher learning was not restricted to academic and sporting results. There was as much rivalry on the pageant stage as there was in the lecture halls and on the sports fields. The annual National Rag Conference featuring the Rag Queens from the 10 (formerly white) universities received as much front page coverage as the Miss SA pageant.In 1975 the decision was made to select the prettiest student in South Africa and the Miss SA Campus pageant was born. The first winner of the Miss SA Campus title was Lindy Kloppers in 1976 who later went on the place second behind Margaret Gardiner in the 1978 Miss RSA pageant. Universities were as passionate about the achievements of their beauty queens as they were about their academics and athletes, and the results of the Miss SA Campus were a matter of institutional pride.
The Miss SA Campus pageant became the National Rag Personality pageant some time in the early 80's. The raging liberals (read UCT, Wits and Rhodes) who were the most vocal at the National Rag Conference decided that beauty pageants were passe and that the emphasis should be on "beauty with a purpose or cause". The pageant continued into the early 90's before dying a horrible death. A Miss SA Campus pageant was held for a few years in the 2000's, but it never reached the level of the Miss SA Campus pageant of the 70's and 80's.
One of the first institutions to discontinue their Rag Queen program was UCT in 1990. The last UCT Rag Queen pageant was held in 1989. The accompanying photographs are of the 1986 UCT Rag Queen finalists and winners. The winner was the lovely Olwen Pate who now holds the distinction of being the third to last UCT Rag Queen in history. From the sashes you will note that leading retail companies supported the concept of a campus queen.
Over time, the Rag Queen programs at other institutions (with a few exceptions) have been reduced to nothing more than localised social events and receive little, if any, coverage in the media. If these events do receive media coverage, it is nothing compared to the media hype of the 50's, 60's and 70's.
The Miss SA Campus pageant est mort. Long live Miss SA Campus.
Photo credit: Olwen Morgen (nee Pate)