Rai Sampson is a 21-year-old Communications major with an Applied Dance minor. She hails from New York and is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Incorporated.
The Thunderous Tau Pi Chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Incorporated crowned their new queen, Miss Rai Sampson, this past April.
“I became a contestant in the Miss Black & Gold pageant because I wanted the opportunity to challenge myself with taking on this huge time commitment. I wanted the opportunity to show myself in a different light to UT students,” she said.
Sampson has competed in a series of dance numbers at UT, but never alone until the pageant. Her efforts were certainly not in vain either. With her contemporary dance piece choreographed to Ciara’s ‘Like A Boy’ she won the most votes during the talent competition and also won the title of Miss Talent. Being from a household with a history of domestic violence, Sampson wanted to bring forth emotion and awareness to a problem that is prevalent in America.
Sampson “crossed over” into the Tenacious Tau Iota Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta this past fall. In this line of Devastating Divas, she is number seven out of nine, and you may know her as Maverick. Sampson believes that although you may have a harsh past, everyone has the ability to rebuild him or herself. Her name correlates with a tattoo that she has, which says, “Take those broken wings and learn to fly.”
When asked what her sorority has planned for future events, Sampson laughs and says, “We have plans for next year, but they are secretive!”
Be sure to be on the lookout for these events. This chapter hopes to have a more prevalent presence on campus. Sampson also hopes that with these events, like Miss Black & Gold for instance, they will bring light to the Alphas on campus, and also the Black Greek organizations in general.
“I think that people think that all we do is stomp and yell, but there is more to it than that,” says Sampson.