KU students take top spots in Miss Kansas 2012 pageant
- Jun. 18, 2012
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- udkne.ws/S13vDY
Some say beauty is pain, but for two University students, beauty means opportunity.
Sloane Lewis, a senior from Norwich, was crowned Miss Kansas 2012. Brooke Taylor, a senior from North Platte, Neb., won first runner-up in this year’s Miss Kansas Pageant, which took place from June 7-9 in Pratt.
Lewis and Taylor, who lived down the hall from each other in Alpha Chi Omega for two years, had to balance pageant life with school and social life.
“We did a lot of appearances around Lawrence together, and it was nice to have a sidekick to go places with,” Lewis said. “It’s hard to get yourself to do stuff, so we kept each other going.”
Taylor missed class a few times for appearances, but other than that, the pageant didn’t interfere with school.
“I would have appearances and stuff on the weekends a lot and couldn’t hang out with my friends as much as I wanted to, but I gained a lot more than I ever sacrificed,” Taylor said.
Taylor said that preparing for the pageant, along with finishing her paperwork and building a pageant platform, taught her a lot about time management.
Lewis and Taylor are familiar with the stereotypes that some people have about beauty pageants.
“I think it’s hard for people to see the positive things about pageants because we have things like Toddlers and Tiaras,” Lewis said.
The Miss Kansas pageant gives out $45 million in tuition scholarship money each year. Lewis earned approximately $10,000 in scholarship money when she won the state title. “This is not a beauty pageant by any means,” she said. “It’s definitely a scholarship organization.”
Taylor is an intern at The Willow Domestic Violence center in Lawrence where she is an advocate for her pageant platform, teen dating-violence awareness and prevention. The pageant gave her the opportunity to speak before the senate regarding a bill about dating-violence policies in schools across Kansas.
“I don’t think I would have gotten these opportunities without having a title,” Taylor said. “I feel like it has benefitted me so much.”
Another beauty pageant title went to Gentry Miller, 2010 graduate from Wichita, who won the 2012 Miss Kansas USA title. Miller also competed in this year’s Miss USA pageant on June 3.
Miller was a member of the American Business Women’s Association and Pi Beta Phi sorority. She said her involvement at KU helped her shaped who she was during the pageant.
“It helped me be a public figure and be someone that could speak to others,” she said.
—Edited by Maegan Mathiasmeier
