On Sept. 29, Northwestern State University of Louisiana selected the 2021 Miss Northwestern Lady of the Bracelet, the 64th title since the inception of the scholarship program.

“Miss LOB is a preliminary to the Miss Louisiana competition,” said 2020 Miss LOB JirNieicia Ward, a senior double major in computer information systems and business administration. “The program is focused around the four points of the crown: service, scholarship, style and success.”

“Miss LOB acts as a public figure to promote service projects in addition to building on the queen’s social impact initiative,” said Ward.

MacKenzie Scroggs, a sophomore dance major, was crowned by Ward in the A. A. Fredericks Auditorium on the Natchitoches campus of NSU.

“I honestly don’t know how to feel,” Scroggs said. “I’m so excited.”

Each winner of the LOB scholarship program receives a charm bracelet that possesses the names of past winners on its individual charms.

“It’s unreal,” Scroggs said just minutes after being crowned. “My mother actually was once Lady of the Bracelet in 1998, so being able to wear the bracelet with her charm on it is truly amazing.”

Scroggs walked away not just with a crown and bracelet, but with a $2,000 scholarship per semester for fall and spring of 2022, a meal plan provided by Sodexo, a $1,000 prize by Miss Louisiana Preparation and a free trip to the Miss Louisiana competition provided by the University Programming Council.

The winner of the pageant was decided by a panel of judges who gave scores based on the candidates’ performance in talent, speech and fashion.

“‘It takes a lady to wear the bracelet’ is the slogan for our event, and MacKenzie demonstrated all that and in a mature, professional and classy manner,” William J. Gaspard, a senior at Louisiana State University who was one of the panel judges and assisted in organizing the scholarship program with UPC, said.

Scroggs came to the pageant with an initiative mission to help young people better their mental health and self-esteem. During her on stage interview, she spoke about the promotion of diversity and inclusion in our society.

However, Scroggs wasn’t the only star of the night.

Bailey Willis, a sophomore secondary education major, performed a spoken word poem and was asked about the American withdrawal from Afghanistan and the status of refugees. She earned first place runner up with a one time $1,500 scholarship.

The second runner up, winning a $1,000 scholarship, was freshman Marissa Rowsey who gave a speech on body image while performing an overhead lift of a weight over 100 pounds and deadlifting a bar of similar weight.

The winner of the Carley McCord Miss Congeniality award, sophomore Emma Rose McElwee, performed a monologue from the story “Confessions of a Shopaholic.”

Those attending the event elected Chileigh Mitchell, a sophomore who performed an original poem about Black history in America, as the winner of the People’s Choice Award.

Other candidates who competed, like hospitality and management major and senior, Sheridan Duet still had their time in the spotlight.

“I feel so fulfilled, just being on the stage and being out here today, this was the first time I’ve done something this large,” Duet said.