2021 Gumbo final - Book - Page 76
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miss lsu-usa
M
iss LSU-USA, a preliminary pageant to Miss
Louisiana hosted by Delta Zeta, was held on
March 14 where sophomore Hannah Fontenot
was crowned as Miss LSU-USA 2021.
The Miss LSU-USA pageant supports Delta Zeta’s national
philanthropy of Speech and Hearing, and in the past year,
the pageant raised close to $100,000, making it the largest
Greek philanthropic fundraiser on LSU’s campus. The
pageant is put on by Delta Zeta’s Miss LSU committee who
make every detail of the event perfect.
Callie Owsley, the philanthropy chairman of Delta Zeta,
said that the majority of the money goes to the national
philanthropy, The Starkey Hearing Foundation, while the rest
goes to two local philanthropies, The Emerge Center and St.
Lillian Academy.
“Delta Zeta’s philanthropy means a lot to me,” Owsley
said. “Our philanthropies allow us as a chapter to see the
change we can make when we come together and raise
money for an important cause. For our local philanthropies,
we actually get to work hands-on with the kids and see them
learn and grow throughout the years.”
Out of the student body, only 23 women decided to
compete in this pageant. The pageant took place at the
Union Theatre and was available through livestream due to
limited capacity in the theatre. Due to the cancellation of the
pageant in 2020 because of the pandemic, Carley McCord,
sports journalist who passed away in a plane accident
in 2019, was announced as the honorary winner of the
pageant.
The pageant began with the contestants taking turns and
walking onto the stage to introduce themselves. After this,
each contestant walked and was scored on their swimsuit
and evening gown presentations. Between each of these was
interviews from Miss LSU-USA 2019 Keighley Kelley and Miss
Louisiana Teen USA Gracie Petry as well as the viewing of
Delta Zeta’s philanthropy video.
All 23 women joined on the stage as the top five was
announced. The top five included Lauren Thirstrup, Lauren
Wall, Hannah Fontenot, Emily Randon, and Jordan Boshea.
Each woman was then asked the same interview question
but was given noise cancelling headphones so they could
not hear the other. After this scoring was completed, Lauren
Thirstrup was announced as first runner up and Hannah
Fontenot received the crown and title of Miss LSU-USA 2021.
“From the very beginning, I had my eyes set on the title
of Miss LSU-USA because I knew how special this role is and
how much I wanted to represent this university.” Fontenot
said. “I could not wait to meet all of the other contestants
and hopefully earn this position. ‘God, if this is meant for me
and where you want me, I am ready to step into this role,
please give me your words and let your light shine through
me’ is what I kept repeating over and over.”
Fontenot said that after she was announced Miss LSUUSA, she first thanked God for gifting her this blessing.
She also said she was filled with so many emotions, and all
she wanted to do was wrap her arms around her family.
Fontenot has only been competing in pageants for about a
year and was signed up to compete for Miss LSU-USA 2020
before it got cancelled. She has competed in three USA
pageants.