Hampton University, the historically black university in Hampton, Va., is experiencing some turmoil after a non-black student was named Miss HU last week. The winner, Nikole Churchill, is the daughter of a father from Guam and an Italian mother:
Nikole Churchill, 22, competed against nine black students in the 15th annual Miss HU scholarship pageant. The senior nursing major attends the Virginia Beach campus and is the competition’s first non-black winner, according to executive pageant director Shelia J. Maye.
Churchill, who is from Hawaii, wrote Obama on Sunday to tell him that her crowning was met with negative comments because of her skin color. She invited him to visit HU and speak about racial tolerance.
