Belton, Texas – On Saturday, November 3, the University will hold its annual Miss Mary Hardin-Baylor Pageant at 7:00 p.m. in the W.W. Walton Chapel on the UMHB campus.
As part of the competition, 19 young ladies will represent various university organizations, residence halls, and classes in their quest for the title. Miss MHB celebrates the self-confidence, personality, and inner beauty of each contestant.
The first portion of the pageant is the talent contest. This year’s contestants are demonstrating a wide array of skills, from singing and dancing to magic and speed painting. These performances will be judged based on their creativity, originality, preparedness, confidence, and the overall presentation.
Alexis Goddard, a senior Social Work major from Livingston, is serving at this year’s director. She says that, while the majority of performers come into the pageant with an idea of what they want to do, some require a little help to discover inner talents.
“We have to identify passions or hobbies that they might have and figure out how to turn that into something that they can put on stage,” Goddard said. “They really have progressed from week one.”
Following the talent portion of the evening, this year’s contestants will come together for a group dance followed by an intermission and an evening gown walk. Based on their performance in the show to that point, the contestants will be narrowed down to five finalists. Those finalists will take turns being interviewed by Mr. Crusader Knight Caleb Fitzwater. Each interviewee will be graded on personality, confidence, diction, and sincerity. Those results will be used to choose this year’s winner.
