The drag show last Thursday night showcased some Simpson students, a Simpson faculty member and a professional drag queen.

Sophomore Kelsey Hedrick helped with the planning of the show and then took care of finances after the show. She said she loved doing the show because the crowd was so responsive.

“My favorite part of the drag show is seeing the crowd’s response to the entire event because people get really excited about everything and laugh in response to everything,” Hedrick said.

Sophomore Ali Jepsen was a contestant in the show, with a group of her friends.

“My favorite part of the show was rooting for all of the other contestants because we all met up before the show actually started and just had fun,” Jepsen said. “We got to be divas together.”

A professional drag queen also brought a flair to the show.

“The atmosphere was much more energized this year and the professional that we brought in really took the show,” Hedrick said. “She was great.”

Patti Young, associate professor of education, felt the professional was a little too crude for her taste.

“[She] did one song that some of us old judges/faculty felt was far too crude and unnecessary,” Young said.

Besides that performance, Young said she enjoyed the show and that everyone had really good performances, especially Steve Rose, associate professor of education.

“The first faculty person ever, I think, to participate as a contestant was Steve Rose,” Young said. “He did Janice Joplin, but looked more like Howard Stern. He was a great sport.”

Young also said the students involved with the show spent a lot of time preparing for it, and the judges were impressed.

“They were really well rehearsed,” Young said. “The judges were blown away.”

Along with having a good time, the show also raised money for the AIDS Project of Central Iowa. Both Young and Hedrick said the show was a success because they made over $100 from taking donations from students.

Hedrick said she likes doing the event so much because it has an impact on the audience and makes LGBT more mainstream.

“I love working for this event because it is so well attended and has such a great impact on people,” Hedrick said. “I think that it helps to bring some of the LGBT issues to the campus and to the minds of the people here, and helps to make LGBT issues more mainstream.”

Young said she loved the show and hopes to judge again next year.

“I really appreciated the amount of work several groups put into their performance,” Young said. “It was fabulous and made the entire night worthwhile.”

Jepsen said the judging part of the show was her least favorite part, because she felt all the contestants deserved the prize.

“It takes some guts to get up there and try to make people laugh,” Jepsen said. “I think we all deserved [the prize] because we all gave everyone a good time.”