Cady Stribling
Contributing Writer
[email protected]

The year’s Ms. Murray State University pageant will be unlike any of the other 49 that came before it.

Ms. MSU was originally set for April 11 last semester but was put on pause when the pandemic forced students to pack it up. Now rescheduled for this semester, the pageant will take place on Saturday, Sept. 19, with a few changes in place.

Rather than an audience cheering the contestants on in person, the event will be livestreamed. Mollie Beck, junior elementary education major, said a virtual event still gives them the opportunity to reach many people through social media.

Beck, who is representing Alpha Gamma Delta, said the girls are competing in person in the Curris Center Large Ballroom and will wear masks. Each contestant will be 6 feet apart at all times.

“We are abiding by the Racer Restart plan, and are to wear masks the entire pageant,” Beck said. “It is not what I expected when I applied in November, but I am so honored to still be able to experience Ms. Murray State.”

Each contestant was nominated by their respective organization last November then interviewed by a panel of judges made up of members from multiple departments at Murray State. From these interviews, the top 15 contestants were chosen to compete.

Isabel DiSalvo, junior elementary education major representing Sigma Sigma Sigma, said the top 15 began practicing last semester before everyone was sent home in March. DiSalvo said since this semester has begun, the contestants will have had only three practices before the event Saturday.

“We all have been looking forward to having this pageant and are so excited we still get to have it,” DiSalvo said. “As much as we would all love to have our families and friends there, it isn’t possible with COVID-19 guidelines. We all understand this and are just glad we still get to have the pageant.”

DiSalvo said this is her first pageant.

“I am very excited,” DiSalvo said. “Of course I will have some nerves the day of, but I think they are more excited nerves than anxious nerves.”

The contestants will undergo an interview and deliver a one-minute speech Saturday morning. For the pageant Saturday evening, they will compete in their evening gowns, and the top five contestants will deliver their speeches to the audience. After the speeches, all contestants will come together and the awards will be given out.

Beck said she is excited to deliver her speech since she has been preparing all summer and the topic is very personal to her. She is also excited to spend the night with her fellow contestants.

“I am ecstatic,” Beck said. “I have wanted to be a part of Ms. Murray State for years. I admire all of the phenomenal young women competing in the pageant, and I cannot wait to share this night with them.”

Grace Sinclair, junior psychology major, is representing Springer-Franklin Residential College Council. Sinclair said she has done a county fair pageant in Illinois, but this pageant is much different.

Sinclair said she is excited for the interview portion because she loves talking to people and meeting new people. Although it is her favorite, Sinclair hasn’t practiced for the interview questions because it makes people sound unnatural.

The contestants have two more practices, but Sinclair said she feels slightly underprepared since it has been difficult to get everyone together while following COVID-19 guidelines.

“I feel like a big point of pageants is finally getting to show off all of your hard work and preparation for the judges and the crowd, but in this event, there isn’t a crowd that we can see,” Sinclair said. “It is going to be so weird just walking across the stage in front of no one, but hopefully maybe then we won’t get as nervous.”

Amara Stroud, senior secondary English education major, said she had some pageant experience when she was little when she won Little Miss Muhlenberg County in 2005.

Stroud is representing Hart Residential College Council.

“I am truly honored that they would believe in my leadership abilities enough that they would nominate me for this pageant,” Stroud said. “They have been insanely supportive of me in this whole experience and I could not be more grateful to represent them.”

When the pageant was supposed to be last semester, Stroud had immediately prepared her speech, practiced walking and speech skills and hemmed her old prom dress. When the pageant was put on pause, Stroud said she had to keep practicing once or twice a week on the interview and public speaking skills to keep her mind sharp.

Stroud is very excited for the speaking portion because her speech is very personal to her. She said it has been wonderful tapping into some of her great childhood memories and she cannot wait to share those with the judges.

Stroud is happy that Ms. MSU will take place virtually.

“I think that it is really cool that we have the technology to support virtual events like Ms. MSU,” Stroud said. “I am really thankful that Emily Perry, our pageant director, and Jeanie Morgan have worked so hard to make sure this Murray State tradition can happen—even if the circumstance isn’t normal. Emily and Jeanie actually bought all of us girls lace masks with our numbers embroidered on them—they are super cute. We will be wearing them during our speech and throughout the pageant.”

Stroud said these masks were a sweet gesture from Perry and Morgan to go out of their way to do for the contestants.

“I have made wonderful connections, friends and memories that I will always remember,” Stroud said. “Though things aren’t necessarily normal, I know this will be a great experience.”

Stroud says she gives all props to Perry and Morgan who have worked so hard to ensure this long-lived tradition is a success under the circumstances.

Perry recently graduated from Murray State and has returned to receive her master’s degree in postsecondary education administration.

“I participated in Ms. MSU in 2019,” Perry said. “It was truly the experience of a lifetime and something I never would have seen myself doing as a freshman. I never thought of myself as someone who would do a pageant, but Ms. MSU is different because it focuses on the academic and involvement aspects of contestants.”

Perry said she gained personal and interview skills all while meeting amazing friends that she remains close with.

This is Perry’s first time directing the pageant and said it is even more fun to direct than to be in it. Perry said each contestant was so easy to work with, especially with the changes because of COVID-19, and she has gained 15 new friends.

“I am most excited for these contestants to show how amazing they are,” Perry said. “Not everyone got to see the amazing resilience and determination they had when it came to having a pageant in the middle of a pandemic, but I know their positive qualities will be put on display on Saturday night, and I couldn’t be more excited for them to finally get their shining moment.”

The pageant will be live-streamed on YouTube at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 19, or go to murraystate.edu/streaming or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6elf7503opc&feature=youtu.be to watch.