All evening, the auditorium was filled with people awaiting one thing: the winner. When the night was coming to a close, the audience’s cheers quickly faded into silence as they anticipated the results. Then, Miss Louisiana 2024 Olivia George began to announce, “your new Miss Northwestern Lady of the Bracelet is…”
The Miss Northwestern Lady of the Bracelet Scholarship Program is a pageant which serves as preliminary to the Miss Louisiana Pageant.
According to the program book, the Miss LOB pageant provides contestants with an opportunity to portray the qualities needed for the competition and allows students of Northwestern State University of Louisiana to show their skills in planning, promoting and producing the event. The production was spearheaded by members of the University Programming Council under the guidance of the Office of Student Activities director.
The night began with a parade of candidates in which all 5 contestants performed. The 2025 Miss LOB contestants were sophomore elementary education major Jesse Foshee, junior social work major Nilah Pollard, junior secondary education major Madison Bruce, junior biology pre-med major Lauryn Vernon and junior psychology major Nicole Curry.
Following this was the introduction of the Mistress of Ceremonies Olivia George accompanied by Miss LOB 2024 Madison Simms.
The rest of the night was filled with both entertainment for the audience and competitions for the contestants. Entertainment was provided by the NSU Demon Dazzlers, Make Your Own Theatre, the Dance Organization of Students, performances by George and Simms. Contestants were faced with on-stage interview questions, sharing their social impact statements, a health and fitness category, a talent competition and a red carpet competition.
When the contestants completed the red carpet competition, there was a brief intermission as Simms prepared for her Miss LOB farewell walk and charm presentation, which is a tradition to express her thoughts about her year, to thank those who helped her and to have a final moment as Miss LOB, George said.
When it was her time on stage, a video slideshow was displayed to show her journey as Miss LOB 2024 whilst a voice recording of her farewell speech played.
The moment Simms’ speech began to play aloud, a bittersweet emotion covered her face.
“Now that I stand on this stage about to take my final bow, I now know that I want to be remembered as someone who went above and beyond for the community and I learned something valuable from every person I encountered,” Simms said.
Simms was then presented with her very own charm to put on the bracelet, which has charms with the names of each previous Miss LOB. Tears filled her eyes as her charm was added to the bracelet.
It was then time for the Miss LOB 2025 contestants to be welcomed back on stage. “The moment we have been waiting for is here,” announced George, preparing to share the winners of the evening.
The Carley McCord Miss Congeniality award was voted on by the contestants and given to Nilah Pollard for her personality.
The Liz Carroll People’s Choice award winner, voted on by the audience, was Jesse Foshee who received a $250 cash scholarship.
The talent winner was Lauryn Vernon, who performed a superlative lyrical dance.
The first runner-up was Pollard, who received a $1,500 one-time scholarship.
“I’m proud of you, Nilah. We love you Nilah,” exclaimed an audience member, others joining to cheer.
Lastly, the new Miss Northwestern Lady of the Bracelet was announced to be Foshee.
Before George could even say Foshee’s full name, cheers erupted from the audience. Applause and screams roared across the auditorium, but a specific part of the audience was the loudest.
“That’s my sister,” said an audience member with excitement.
Foshee’s Sigma Sigma Sigma sisters joined in the cheers with giggles of happiness, knowing their very own just won the 2025 Miss LOB. Foshee smiled and pointed at her sisters, as their voices exceeded all others’.
Having just passed down her crown to the new Miss Cane River, Foshee went on to receive her new one, passed down to her by Simms.
As winner of the 67th Miss LOB Scholarship Program, Foshee received a $2,000 scholarship per semester for spring 2025 and fall 2025 provided by UPC, a meal plan provided by Sodexo, a $1,000 cash prize for Miss Louisiana preparation and a free trip to the Miss Louisiana competition provided by UPC.
Now, Foshee will go on to represent NSU at the Miss Louisiana Scholarship contest, which will take place in June 2025 in Monroe, La.
