Described as a “celebration of the grace, beauty, talent and charisma of Asian American women,” the fourth annual Miss Asian UIUC pageant took place Friday night.

Hosted by the Taiwan Intercultural Association at Foellinger Auditorium, the pageant showcased nine contestants from various Asian American student organizations. The judges were all representatives from the organizations and judged the girls based on their “grace, confidence, and presentation,” according to the event’s program. After an introduction of the contestants in their traditional cultural wear followed by talent, evening gown and question and answer portions, the top three finalists were announced.

The emcees for the night, seniors Ben Kim in Communications and Arden Cho in LAS, asked the three finalists – Erlinda Garcia from the Philippine Student Association and senior in LAS, Yukari Ohtomo from the Japanese Intercultural Network and senior in ACES and Clara Wong from the Asian American Association and sophomore in LAS – one final question before leaving it up to the judges.

By the end of the night, Wong was announced as Miss Asian UIUC 2007.

“I was really taken aback,” she said.

When Jennifer Lo, the Asian American Association president and senior in LAS, asked Wong to be their representative in the pageant, Wong decided to participate as a way of giving back to the organization.

“(The Asian American Association) helped me meet a lot of my Asian friends and helped create one of the very first Asian American communities to be a part of,” Wong said.

Friday night’s pageant was the first Wong has ever participated in and provided her with an opportunity to meet the other contestants, whom Wong described as talented and sweet. She considered herself grateful to be competing with such a group.

Wong was able to showcase her background by wearing a traditional Chinese dress and by singing a song in both Mandarin and English. She said she believes the pageant was a great way for several of the Asian organizations to come together and represent Asian culture.

Gordon Yang, the pageant’s coordinator of sponsorships and junior in engineering, agreed with Wong.

“There aren’t enough events on campus that are similar to this that shows the student body what the Asian community has to offer,” Yang said.

Miss Asian UIUC, which was founded by the Taiwanese Intercultural Association in 2003, occurs as a part of Asian American Awareness month. Yang said the pageant is an opportunity for each organization to showcase the best aspects of their respective cultures.

Although the pageant doesn’t aim to spotlight one specific person, Yang agreed with the crowning of Wong as the Miss Asian UIUC 2007.