Debutante Auset Georgianna Rachel Pope will be making her debut. This East Lansing High School student has a resume that is longer than some adults.
Photo courtesy of Joseph Pruitt
LANSING, MI – Debutante Auset Georgianna Rachel Pope will make her debut on Saturday, April 15, 2023, at 6:00 p.m. at the Radisson Hotel.
Auset is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Larry and Ramona Byrd-Pope and the maternal granddaughter of Mr. George Byrd and the late Sylvia Moch; and the paternal granddaughter of the late Lela Williams. She is a senior at East Lansing High School (ELHS) and has been a member of the club since 7th grade. Auset is a member of Union Missionary Baptist Church where she serves on the Puppet and Mime Ministry.
After graduation, Auset plans to attend a 4-year university or Art and Design school. She would like to combine her love of photography, art and design, and journalism into a career in the publishing or medical field.
As a prequel to a future career in photojournalism, Auset is a staff writer and photographer for the ELHS newspaper, Portrait. Leadership opportunities in high school and in the community have challenged her to grow and use her voice. She has served on the Debutante executive board as President, Secretary and Assistant Secretary. At ELHS, she was Vice President of The American Sign Language Club; and co-founder of the K-Pop/K-Drama Club.
She has also participated in the East Lansing High School Book Club, Black Student Union; Latin-X Student Union; World Language Club; marching, concert, and symphonic band; and on the tech crew for the school theatrical performances. She is a member of the NAACP Youth Group. She has been employed with the State of Michigan Department of Transportation Youth Development and Mentoring Program and One Love Global Youth.
As the Outreach and Communications Chair for Grit, Glam, and Guts, an organization dedicated to the empowerment of teen girls; she had the opportunity to help organize a Self-Expression in the Arts Showcase and is currently collaborating with her peers on an empowerment-based literature project to showcase the voices and written works of girls in Lansing.
She was the 1st place winner of the Eva L. Evans Juneteenth Essay and Scholarship Competition, Bellamy Taylor Scholarship Category in June of 2022. Also as a participant in the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Delta Gems Youth Program, she received the Community Service Award in 2022. Her photography was voted 1st place in her ELHS’s Earth Day Art contest.
Auset has been selected to receive a Youth on the Move Award for The Greater Lansing Area Club of the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Inc. (GLAC NANBPWC) 40th Anniversary Founder’s Day Award Ceremony, on April 29, 2023. She is the treasurer of the GLAC Youth Club of NANBPWC, as a part of her busy and productive schedule.
She has attended pre-college programs at Michigan State University (HSSI Health Sciences Scholarship Institute), and Art at The University of Michigan Stamps School of Art and Design.
Community service has been an important part of Auset’s time in the club and in other organizations, she’s a member of. She has used her talent, passion, and love of design to sew clothes for the Salvation Army Doll and Bear giveaway. As a means of giving back to the community, Auset also created a diaper and personal needs product drive. The collected items will be distributed to various community agencies.
She has volunteered for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Commission Luncheon; 96.5 FM School Backpack Giveaway; prepared food boxes for The Greater Lansing Area Food Bank; made cards and blankets for hospital and nursing home patients. During the COVID-19 shutdown, she made beaded support bracelets for parents of babies in Sparrow Hospital’s NICU.
Byrd-Pope, Auset’s mother said, “It has been heartwarming to see my shy and quiet daughter find her voice and show how strong, capable, caring, and generous she is. Bonding and spending time with her “little sisters” and escorts was an important goal for Auset. She has met this goal by creating fun group activities and yes, having to open up and speak.”
The following extraordinary young men are the cotillion escorts: Dyelan Arnold, son of Mr. and Mrs. Todd and Canithra Arnold; Bryce Brown, son of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin and Darlene Brown; Jayden Hinton, son of Ms. Christina Hinton and Mr. Thurman Harden; Latrael Patterson, son of Ms. Brandi Branson; Michael Thomas, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael and Laurin’ Thomas; and Casey Vickers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald and Mrs. Debby-Ann Gordon, and the late Mr. Levoid Vickers III. Honorary escorts are her brother, Myles Pope, son of Mr. Larry and Ramona Byrd-Pope; and god brother Phillip Smith, son of Ms. Alissa McCoy and Mr. and Mrs. Karry and De’Anna Smith.
Debutante Auset Georgianna Rachel Pope’s senior picture.
Photo courtesy of Alvin Holloway
The Les Meres et Debutantes (French for Mothers and Daughters) Club of Greater Lansing was founded in 1962 by nine mothers. The nine founding mothers were Esther Abrams, Hortense Canady, Lela Eaton, Mattie Foxall, Robbie Harris, Catherine Harrison, Estelle Saunders, Shirley Wills, and Dorothy Wilson. The club’s purpose is to encourage the development of their daughters into good citizens, promote high ideals, character, and academic excellence; while personifying poise and grace, and to sponsor a cotillion at the twelfth-grade level.
Past debutantes are represented in various occupations, including medicine, law, broadcasting, information technology, education, business, and government. Our success includes the first Black female aviation inspector and a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon. Other occupations include engineering, pharmacy, and computer programming.
Since its inception, the club has met the needs of hundreds of girls and has welcomed the daughters of former debutantes.
