Eight students will compete in the 43rd annual Miss OCU pageant this month.
The pageant is at 7 p.m. Oct. 24 in the Kirkpatrick Auditorium in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. Miss OCU 2014 Veronica Wisniewski will pass on her title to one of eight students competing.
The contestants are: Halston Strange, dance pedagogy junior; Ali Bradley, acting junior; Monica Thompson, vocal performance and music theater junior; Sandra Coursey, piano performance sophomore; Margaret Bond, music and pre-law sophomore; Meghan Bradley, dance management freshman; and Abigail Branch and Savannah Kelly, dance performance juniors.
The women who compete in the pageant are expected to be ambassadors for the university for a full year.
They also must mentor Miss Teen OCU and Rising Star, winners of two pageants done through the university for aspiring Stars.
Meghan Bradley said she is excited to compete in Miss OCU for the first time.
“So many amazing girls have come from OCU to become Miss Oklahoma and then Miss America,” Bradley said, “I can only hope to follow in their footsteps one day.”
OCU has a long history of pageant winners. Thirty-six OCU students have gone on to compete in Miss America, three of whom were former Miss OCU winners. On the state level, 34 Miss OCUs’ have represented the university in the Miss Oklahoma pageant.
Darwinia Marshall has been executive director of Miss OCU for 23 years.
“This program is about young women graduating with productive, employable degrees while being debt free from the scholarships that are available through the Miss America Organization,”Marshall said.
The winner of Miss OCU receives a year of tuition,the traditional crown and sash, a wardrobe budget, a personal trainer, a professional photo shoot and an entry into the Miss Oklahoma pageant in June.
The runner up gets half tuition for two semesters.
“The Miss OCU title is always very well represented and whoever gets the crown this year is a very lucky girl,” Abigail Branch said. “No matter who wins, Oklahoma City University will be presented with shining stars Saturday night.”
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