The Miss Indiana University Pageant 2023 queen is crowned, but it’s much more than just the title. 

Miss Indiana University held this year’s pageant on February 19th, a competition that has run at the University since 1946. The pageant saw a large turnout, with family members, friends, and faculty coming together to support the candidates take part in musical performances, Q&A’s along with a catwalk. Out of the eight women who participated, six had never participated in a pageant before. 

The pageant was sectioned into four different elements to showcase the candidate’s talents. The first round was dedicated to answering judge questions, where they would ask the participants variations on what becoming Miss Indiana University would mean to them. 

The eight women were chosen out of a large pool, all of which had to fulfill rigorous requirements, such as raising money for philanthropies of their choice, having a GPA of a certain standard as well as bringing a talent of their own to showcase to the judges to show them why they deserve the crown. 

Candidates performed musical numbers and dance routines, along with some women performing beyond what one would typically think of what is associated with beauty pageants. Pageant candidate Alexandra Knotts came to the stage and dazzled the audience with a Taekwondo performance, while the 2023 winner did a live science experiment. The competition encourages women to perform something which they hold close to themselves and illustrate their strengths and talents.

While the pageant celebrates female success and talent, pageantry has its connotations and preconceived notions. Teresa White, the executive director for Miss Indiana University since 2011, expressed how Miss Indiana University is more about coming together and inspiring other women across campus. Speaking on what she hopes participants get from the experience, White expressed “Anything you’re involved in and you give your time to is what you choose to make it. And if you make it just about winning, you’re going to go away pretty empty most of the time. But if you make it about something else, it can be very empowering”.

Kaitlyn Ross, the winner of the Miss IU pageant reflected on why she started getting into pageantry, despite the stereotypes surrounding it. Ross spoke about how her mother did pageantry in college and encouraged Ross to try it out for the experience, friendships, and confidence it creates. Ross expressed “I started doing pageants because my mum had breast cancer, and she had to do pageants when she was younger and had always wanted me to get involved and I never thought I was the stereotypical pageant girl”.

After the judges concluded who they believed was this year’s Miss Indiana University, the former year’s Miss Indiana, Shaylee Barnes, shared her reflections on her year as the 2022 winner. She thanked her family and friends who supported her, and the work she had done with her platform and gave the candidates some words of advice. “Take it all in. The year is going to fly by, so make sure you live it to the fullest”.

Kaitlyn Ross was crowned Miss Indiana University and will spend the next year dedicating her time and energy to inspiring other women on campus to be the best they can be.