Alexandra Mosquera Netzkarsch / Columnist
FIU has been facing a lot of criticism in the past months regarding the Miss Universe pageant which took place at the university’s main campus this past weekend. Why is this upsetting and frustrating to many?
The Miss Universe pageant attracts hundreds of millions of people that will watch this event on T.V. around the world. That means that FIU will get worldwide exposure.
As a young woman, I see any beauty pageant as objectifying, no matter if it is a contest between female or male participants, it triggers in my mind something that yells ‘That is so wrong!’
I am an advocate for ethical and moral values that help promote a mindset of integrity, respect and honesty in our society, this is what I look for in an academic community, such as the one at FIU.
At this moment, I am not seeing these values in this university.
As a student, I feel strongly about FIU being blinded by the publicity it will earn from this kind of events.
This university should promote and support numerous positive values such as the ones it advertises: respect for the dignity of the individual and intellectual excellence.
By letting events like Miss Universe being affiliated with FIU, the university is showing, its students and the world, that 10 seconds in the spotlight are worth more than the values it intends to promote.
A professor of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication recently told a joke in class in which it didn’t matter how much one sells his dignity and self-respect for, it could be $544.073 or $1, it is wrong no matter what the circumstances are. That joke wasn’t intended to be funny, but rather to make us reflect on how we feel and how we will react to this event, as individuals and as a community.
I can’t blame Donald Trump for renting and using FIU facilities, it’s his right to make an offer and be able to use that space for whatever event he wants to.
The dilemma, in this case, is that FIU can’t discriminate against any business which has the funds and desire to rent out that space. However, FIU shouldn’t have these spaces that can be rented out to whoever wants to in the first place.
The image projected on the entire University is now vain, gaining publicity around the world thanks to an absurd beauty pageant. What will those students think that will apply because they saw FIU advertised during the pageant? Will they think all the females students at FIU look like the pageant contestants? Will the accomplishments of many FIU scholars matter to those who will apply?
This doesn’t mean that the women and men at FIU are not allowed to feel comfortable with their image and show it off to the world. On the contrary, I think that a serious academic institution, such as FIU, should be able to promote the inside and outside beauty of all their students, faculty and staff members.
I want to believe that FIU can be an academic community in which the beauty of every student’s mind is valued above his/her looks, contrary to Miss Universe.
I’m confident that the alumni and current panthers have the capability and the talent, in endless fields, to show the world that an education at FIU is worth every minute of hard work and that this institution doesn’t need a beauty pageant to attract new generations of students. People will see and admire our actions, not our intentions.
FIU, show us your greatness through your good ethical actions, not through the hidden intentions.
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