The student chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) hosted the Miss Black UofL Pageant last week in Strickler Hall’s Middleton Auditorium.
This was the first year the pageant was presented as a local preliminary for Miss Kentucky.
The winner, Alexis Murry, is a junior studying Exercise Science and is also a member of the track and field team. While she will hold the title of Miss Black UofL, she will also represent NSBE for the Miss Kentucky on June 30 in Lexington.
The 1st Runner Up was Kristen Rollerson (also won the People’s Choice Award and Miss Entrepreneur) The senior is a sports administration and communication major and plans on attending NKU’s Chase Law School in the fall.
The 2nd Runner Up was Vashti Proctor, a senior anthropology and international health studies major.
Also this year, there was a “Professor Hart” Award, which went to a contestant who showed compassion for her community through her service on and off campus. The award is named after Brenda Hart, a retired professor of Engineering and founder of NSBE at UofL in 1974. Professor Hart was in the audience at the event.
The Professor Hart Award went to sophomore Alexsis Carter, who is a communications and marketing major and an ROTC cadet.
The current Miss Kentucky, Clark Davis, and NSBE member Christopher Bell, served as emcees. The event drew a crowd of approximately 175 people.
This is the first time the event has been held in five years.
I want to highlight and acknowledge the leadership efforts, long nights, months of planning and preparing, and overall dedication of the NSBE members. They did a wonderful job,” said Erica Gray, adviser for the NSBE. “This event will definitely support their goal of bridging the gap, collectively, with the university student body.”
