Pirates for Pride, the LGBT+ and allies organization on Southwestern University, hosted its third annual Drag Me to Brunch event on October 6, during Homecoming Weekend.

The event was created three years ago in 2017 by Kayla Ingram, the President of Pirates for Pride and Southwestern University alum Juicy Liu. Liu graduated from Southwestern University in 2003 and currently performs as a drag queen in San Francisco, California. 

Southwestern University celebrated its 110 Homecoming from October 4 to October 6 this year. Generations of Southwestern alumni came back home for the weekend and to celebrate their alma mater. Many of them had the opportunity to have dinner at the commons one more time or to tailgate before the homecoming football game. 

This year, Drag Me to Brunch was held in the ballrooms of the Mccombs Campus Center. Because of the huge success of last year’s homecoming, Pirates for Pride aimed at an even higher amount to raise: $10,000

“I had crazy doubts, but I always do. I’m not an optimist,” said Ingram.

The show was an hour long with a 15 minute intermission in the middle. Each queen took turns performing their sets both on and off the stage. As they lip-synced to popular songs, the drag queens danced past tables and collected donations. After the show was over, donations continued to come in. As each new donation milestone passed, Ingram popped balloons, each with different amounts written on them. 

“I’m pretty good at putting higher levels of concerns in a box when I need to,” said Ingram. “I was mostly concerned with popping balloons at the right moment, but there was something exciting about the growing amount of plastic around me.”

In the end, over $10,000 was raised for Pirates for Pride. As a celebration, the queens performed one final encore altogether.

The first Drag Me to Brunch held place at Roots located at the Georgetown Square. Brunch was provided for those who bought a ticket, as well as mimosas for those who were 21 and over. Drag queens then took the stage, and performed an hour long show. During the show, the queens accepted donations that went to P4P’s funds. The first Drag Me to Brunch raised around $1,000. The second Drag Me to Brunch, held in the Prothro Center, raised over $8,000. The amount of money earned caused an emotional reaction from Ingram. 

“I couldn’t feel anything for about two weeks, and then I cried because I was so happy. It was shocking! I was expecting us to raise $3,000. It made me happy, because all I wanted from the event was to leave something behind for future generations from P4P,” said Ingram. 

Drag Me to Brunch is one of Southwestern University’s most unique and fun events during homecoming week. To raise so much money in one afternoon for students to travel and to have resources is no small feat. Everyone will be looking forward to see what the queens will do next in Homecoming 2020.