Kent State students will sashay their way to the Student Center Ballroom on March 16 to see past and present students perform in drag during the first-ever KSU Housing Drag Brunch.

The first 200 students in line will be able to watch their peers dance, lip-sync and perform comedic acts while enjoying fruit, pastries and beverages. The doors will open at 11 a.m. and the event is first come, first served.

Drag artist Frutisha Punch, a current student and host of the show, helped form the idea of the event while talking with Korb residence hall director Lindsey Holub and other student housing staff who are drag performers. The brunch will feature both new artists and more seasoned performers, like Punch.

“A drag brunch focuses a lot on interaction with the audience and making folks feel like they are almost a part of the show in a way,” Holub said in an email to KentWired. “There will be some space for the drag performers to showcase their performance skills, but also their crowd work and even comedy skills.”

Punch, one of only two drag queens in her hometown of Grove City, has been performing for over two years and helped cultivate the Kent drag community with artists Mikayla Moon and Comatose Why-Wintour. She wants the brunch to serve as a way for people to connect with the local community, express themselves and help push against gender norms.

“People want drag on this campus,” Punch said. “To know people want us here, that only gives me and so many other entertainers the go-ahead to do these events and showcase these events and also promote the drag on campus.” 

Both Punch and Holub said they hope this event launches an annual tradition of drag brunches on campus to expose local talent to more students.

With the growing number of laws advancing in states across the United States aimed at restricting drag performances, Punch said this event will show that Kent stands with the drag community.

“Drag has stood the test of time and it will continue to,” Punch said. “Drag has always showcased, no matter how hard you want to fight against it, we’re going to continue to fight back and we’re going to do it in a six-inch pump.”