History of the Pageant
The Miss LSU Pageant was born many years ago, although Delta Zeta Sorority only took it over four years ago, in 1998. The pageant had been defunct for a year, but we were hopeful we could reinvigorate this program and make it a proud LSU tradition once again. We had other goals as well. We wanted to make this a charitable event, whereby all proceeds would benefit our sorority's charity, Aid to Speech and Hearing Impaired. We also wanted to give the young women of LSU an opportunity to challenge themselves, and to shine. Finally, we wanted to produce a young woman who, each year, would have a strong chance of claiming the title of Miss Louisiana, with a shot at the title of Miss USA.
Miss LSU 2002, Courtney Tatman placed fourth runner-up among a tough field of contestants at last year's Miss Louisiana Pageant, and Miss LSU 2001, Melissa McConnell placed first runner-up. But our very first winner, Miss LSU 1999 Anne Catherine Lene is the feather in our cap. After returning to the Miss Louisiana pageant several times, she claimed the title of Miss Louisiana, and represented the great state of Louisiana and her alma mater at the annual Miss USA Pageant telecast live on CBS.
Our contestants are a very diverse group of girls. They can be in LSU's undergraduate program, graduate program, or the law school. Many are involved in a wide variety of student organizations. Some contestants are very experienced in pageantry and others are amateurs.
In the four years we have operated the Miss LSU Pageant, we went from raising $3,000 in 1999 to well over $10,000 a year. We have had more participants, more tickets sold, more program advertisements, and more sponsors each year. We are now able to give our winner a $1,000 cash scholarship and the entry to Miss Louisiana-USA Pageant, valued at about $900. In addition, all of our contestants share a prize package that is valued at more than $5,000. And that is before we give one single penny to charity.