Fifteen Mississippi State
students will compete for the
chance to be Miss MSU in the
50th annual Miss MSU Pageant
Thursday night.
“Competing in this pageant
takes a lot of commitment. It’s a
full time job, really,” said Heidie
Lindsey, associate director of the
Colvard Student Union.
The competition consists of
a 10-minute interview, a talent
showcase, swimwear competition,
evening gown competition
and an on-stage question, she
said.
“Each woman gets to fill out
a fact sheet and a platform statement
that judges get to look at,”
Lindsey said.
The crowned Miss MSU
wins a $1,500 scholarship and
a $1,000 stipend to cover travel
expenses and other pageant
expenses, she said.
The first runner-up wins a
$750 scholarship, the second
runner-up wins a $500 scholarship
and the third runner-up
wins a $250 scholarship.
“Every year we ask local
buisnesses to provide prizes,”
Lindsey said.
Barnes & Noble donated a
$500 gift card for the crowned
Miss MSU, she said.
This year being the 50th anniversary,
past Miss MSU’s will
be returning to perform in the
opening number and assist in
the competition, Lindsey said.
“Past Miss MSU’s will ask the
on-stage questions,” she said.
The pageant is hosted
by the Student Association
and the Center for Student
Involvement.
“We’re hoping to see even
more support of it this year,
being the 50th anniversary
of it,” SA President Braxton
Coombs said.
The SA will help with funding
and any support the pageant
needs, he said.
“It’s a great program, a great
event and a lot of planning
and time goes into it,” Coombs
said.
Coombs said he has attended
the event every year, but is excited
to be an escort this year.
“[Miss MSU is] important
because you want to choose a
good person to represent us,”
Lindsey said.
Miss MSU represents MSU
in the Miss Mississippi pageant,
but also at recruiting events,
orientations and banquets where
she will perform and entertain
using her talents, she said.
“It’s very demanding, there’s
not doubt about that,” current
Miss MSU Corie Stanford said.
As Miss MSU Stanford said
she has attended alumni events,
banquets and has also traveled
to recruiting events to talk to
perspective students.
“The system as a whole is very
demanding. The girls who are
in this system work very hard
year round to better themselves.
It really prepares you for life,”
Stanford said.
The Miss MSU pageant teaches
girls skills like time management,
confidence, how to speak
in front of a crowd and it keeps
them looking at current affairs
to stay up to date, she said.
The pageant participants have
to prepare a platform for an
organization that they support
and they have to raise money for
the Miss America national platform,
which is the Children’s Miracle Network, Stanford said.
They have to raise $100 for a
local pageant and $200 for a
state pageant.
“It shows that the girls don’t
just slap on a dress. There’s a lot
of prep and a lot of work that
goes into it even before they get
on the stage,” Stanford said.
She said girls need to be true
to themselves during the competition
because they have done
so much work already to prepare.
Junior international business
major Kim Fron said she
is running for Miss MSU for
the scholarships and because of
the positive way MSU reached
out to her during the hurricane
evacuation a few years ago.
“I knew that I could be proud
representing them,” Fron said.
This is the first pageant Fron
has competed in, she said.
“As long as my academic and
pageant schedules didn’t conflict,
I’d be working and playing
and having fun,” Fron said.
The Miss MSU pageant will
be Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the
Lee Hall auditorium. General
admission is $10 and $5 for
students with an MSU ID.
For more information about
Miss MSU, visit union.msstate.edu/involvement/missmsu.php.