2 IU students to compete for Miss Indiana crown

Senior Jaclyn Fenwick’s parents divorced when she was in middle school. Since then she has wanted to reach out to other kids who share similar pasts.

Now, years later, she has found a platform to do that — the Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant.

“It gave me a megaphone,” Fenwick said.

On Wednesday, June 22, she and senior Charnette Batey will compete against 29 other young women for the crown at the Miss Indiana Scholarship Pageant in Zionsville, Ind.

“Miss Indiana is part of Miss America,” said Marni Lemons, director of public relations and social media for the pageant. “We don’t consider ourselves to be a beauty pageant.”

Lemons said the greatest percentage of a contestant’s score comes from the talent competition and an interview with the judges.

Before competing at Miss Indiana, the women must win a crown at one of 31 local pageants. Batey won the title of Miss Harvest Homecoming last fall in New Albany, and Fenwick is Miss Indiana University.

“I’m very excited to see more from them at Miss Indiana,” Lemons said. “I think they’ll both be great contenders.”

Fenwick, who is studying public relations and psychology, will be taking the stage for her third Miss Indiana pageant.

“I look at each opportunity not as a failure, but as a chance to grow, and each time I take on a new challenge,” Fenwick said.

Each contestant also has a platform to promote.

Fenwick’s platform, “Broken Homes: Don’t Let Them Break You,” aims to help children with divorced parents, like herself.

“I had a great support team and because of that I was able to not let my parents’ divorce weigh me down,” she said.

While Fenwick is a veteran of Miss Indiana pageants, Batey is a relative newcomer. However, she said she has enjoyed the process so far.

“I haven’t been doing pageants for a long time, so I had an outsider’s perspective of what a pageant was,” she said. “It’s so refreshing to hear that it’s not about the prettiest dress or biggest hair.”

Lemons said scholarships are offered at each level of competition. Awards are given not only to overall winners, but also for individual events, such as the talent competition.

“I got involved in the pageant because of the scholarship opportunity,” Batey said. “Being able to go all four years of college without debt is really important to me.”
IU senior and Miss Indiana 2010 Gabrielle Reed said she entered pageants for the same reason.

“I really didn’t grow up with the ambition to be Miss America,” she said. “My first year, when I won Miss IU, I was in a really tough spot financially. If I wouldn’t have won, I would have had to take time off.”

Reed said almost all of her undergraduate studies in the Jacobs School of Music have been funded by Miss Indiana scholarships.

After a year of television appearances, the Miss America pageant and promoting her platform of domestic violence awareness in schools, Reed will pass on her crown next week, as well as the demanding job that comes with it.

“They want to see somebody ready to step into the job the next day,” she said. “Once you go through this experience, you come out prepared for any job.”

Lemons said she has judged pageants in the past and has an idea of what judges look for in Miss Indiana contestants.

“I think the girls who do well are young women who know themselves, know their own minds, and have strong, developed opinions about important issues,” she said. “That’s what makes strong contributors to the
community.”