The college queens are out-of-towners but both share a profound love for the Orangeburg community and its youth.

Uchechi Chidinma Egbuhuzo, a senior, professional biology major is a native of Stone Mountain, Ga. She is Miss South Carolina State University.

Chrishele Irene Kingdom is also a senior majoring in early childhood education with a minor in sociology. The Summerville student is Miss Claflin University.

The two met while working with middle and high school kids at “Upward Bound,” a summer youth tutoring and mentoring program.

“Chrishele is very outgoing and intellectual but most importantly she is very caring,” Uchechi said. “I am a leader and a positive role model and when I first met Chrishele, it was like looking in a mirror.”

Both queens have dedicated their year on the throne to creating fresh and innovative ways to better serve the Orangeburg community. They have decided to join forces, hoping a more united, coordinated effort will improve the services offered by college students and increase their involvement within the community.

Uchechi is an active volunteer with the Hosea Feed the Hungry Foundation and the Nigeria Youth Alliance. She is working to implement “Reading with Royalty,” a program in which members of her royal court will venture into elementary schools in Orangeburg to highlight, “Why Reading is Fundamental?”

Her passion for community service, student involvement and “Bulldog Pride” was at the root of her campaign. She is a believer that, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in community service.”

Chrishele is exicted about getting involved in the community and readily entertains the possibility of becoming a school teacher in the Orangeburg area. She is a member of the Alice Carson Tisdale Honors College and president of the National Pre-Alumni Council, but is most proud of her work as an orientation leader to incoming freshmen.

“I am aware of the transformational power of education,” Chrishele said. “It’s an honor to be able to offer some inspiration and guidance to teenagers who are about to take the next big step of their academic journey.”

She plans to complement Uchechi’s “Reading with Royalty” program with a book drive that challenges organizations on campus to donate books for local middle and high schools. In Chrishele’s view: “Impacting tomorrow today assures the success for future generations.”

The queens are also working together to assemble a group of college students willing to volunteer as big brothers and sisters to local Orangeburg youths. Like Carlos Alan Autry, actor and former mayor of Fresno, Calif., both Uchechi and Chrishele agree, “Every city across the country that has succesfully renewed and revitalized itself points to a robust education system as its fundamental key to success.”

Rodney Brown is a student in the Mass Communications Department at Claflin University. He is an intern in the T&D newsroom for the fall semester. This story on the queens first appeared in the Oct. 23 edition of The Panther, Claflin’s student newspaper.

You must be logged in to comment.