In a dazzling display of beauty and grace, ABAC’s Agripreneurs are set to host the highly anticipated Ms. ABAC 2024 pageant where women from various campus communities gather to compete for the crown.
The requirements for competing in the beauty pageant are being a full-time student for the Fall 2024 and Spring 2025 semesters; being available to crown a successor; participating in the rehearsals; participating in the written portion; at least a 2.5 GPA; and be a positive reflection of ABAC.
The pageant consists of a meeting to take headshots to be in hometown news outlets for PR, a meeting for a writing exercise, three days to practice, a personal interview, casualwear lead out, and a formalwear lead out.
Contestants are required to participate in all the events, unless stated otherwise. Failure to do so can result in disqualification from the pageant.
The awards for the pageant are as follows: People’s Choice Award (plaque), Miss Congeniality (plaque), Essay Winner (plaque), Interview Winner (plaque), 4th Runner Up (plaque, flowers), 3rd Runner Up (plaque, flowers), 2nd Runner Up (plaque, flowers), 1st Runner Up (plaque, flowers), and Ms. ABAC receives a plaque, flowers, crown, sash, and a $500 scholarship.
The current titleholder for Ms. ABAC 2023 is Emily Groat, who recently graduated with her B.S. Agricultural Education from ABAC. The titleholder went on many different adventures during her reign.
“I just took every opportunity that I could to talk about ABAC,” Groat said.
Using her Ms. ABAC title, Groat competed in the Georgia Forestry pageant and National Forestry Pageant and is now serving as the 2023 Miss Georgia Turpentine. She assisted in the planning, executing, and even served as an MC for Mr. ABAC 2023 pageant.
The Ms. ABAC titleholder gets the opportunity to share her love for ABAC with other communities and share what ABAC means to her.
“People would come up to me and recognize me as Ms. ABAC, and I have just had the most fun in the world getting to represent the school that has shaped me into the woman I am today,” Groat said.
Ms. ABAC 2022 Charleigh Harper went on to win Miss Fitzgerald, and she also made it into the semi-finals for the Miss Georgia pageant. Harper came out of retirement to compete in Ms. ABAC 2022 after doing pageants her entire life.
Harper spent a lot of time during her reign raising awareness for her platform, Diabetes and Mental Health. The titleholder was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the age of 18 and made it her mission to spread how it can affect mental health.
In a previous interview, Harper said, “Ms. ABAC is so near and dear to my heart. From bringing me out of retirement to encouraging me to pursue my dream of being Miss Georgia and allowing me to make a difference in my community through my platform, this year [2022] has been nothing short of opportunity.”
Both current and former titleholders have impacted the community on different levels, and this type of impact could be passed down to the next Ms. ABAC.
Ms. ABAC 2024 will be held on Thursday, February 29. For more information pertaining to the pageant, email Dr. Audrey Luke-Morgan at alukemorgan@abac.edu.