Crowns and sashes officially royal

Mister Claflin Khari Graham and Miss Claflin India Rice walk the stage during coronation. (Special to The Panther)

Claflin University's Royal Court hosted their coronation on Thursday, Nov. 9, in the W.V. Middleton Auditorium.

The coronation showcased Miss and Mister Claflin, the royal court, class kings and queens, and dorm kings and queens.

The coronation was titled “Throne Forever,” inspired by the Marvel movie “Black Panther.”

The movie illustrates Black individuals in royal positions.

“We chose the theme because it highlights Black individuals in royal positions, which gives us an experience we may not see every day, so I think it is very important that we highlight our Black queen and kings on campus that is shown through our theme of Black Panther,” Miss Claflin India Rice said.

Mister Claflin Khari Graham expressed his excitement before the coronation.

“I think it’s going to be a grand event, and I attended the coronation last year, actually imagining myself in the limelight,” Graham said.

The Claflin royal title and coronation come as dreams satisfied for Miss Claflin and Mister Claflin.

Rice describes her reign as “a dream come true.”

“I knew coming in to Claflin that I wanted to run for Miss Claflin when it came my chance, so it was just something I always dreamed of, and I was just excited to finally get the crown and sash,” she said.

Graham says his reign is “unreal.”

“One word I would describe being crowned as Mister Claflin is unreal, just because I did not have this in my goals when coming to Claflin,” he said.

As leaders for the university, Miss and Mister Claflin shared what is expected for the remainder of their reign.

The two are looking forward to continuing their community engagement, getting to know their peers and securing the CIAA titles.

“One thing I am really excited about next semester is the CIAA [basketball tournament]. So hopefully we can get those back-to-back dubs as Miss and Mister CIAA for Claflin,” Graham said.

For now, the two will focus on “being involved with different organizations on campus to promote the royal court as well as smaller organizations that a lot of students may not know about,” Rice said.