Highland student crowned ‘Miss Southwest’

Kinsey Shelton, an English education major from Highland, and Hunter Smith, a biblical studies major from Kansas City, Mo., won the titles of Mr. and Miss Southwest at the annual pageant on Friday, March 4 at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar Mo. Shelton, a resident assistant at SBU, is the daughter of Joel and Lisa Hawkins.

Eight candidates were nominated by SBU faculty and staff and voted upon by the student body for the purpose of selecting a pair of students to represent the Bearcat family for the next year. The pageant featured introductory videos and a talent presentation by each candidate, followed by a round of text-message voting to determine the top four candidates, who then participated in question-and-answer sessions. A final round of voting determined the winners.

During the competition, Shelton lip-synced and danced with a group of friends to a parody version they recorded of California Gurls by Katy Perry.

“My friend had rewritten the lyrics as ‘Southwest Baptist Girls,’” she said. “It all fell into place as soon as we picked the song. I had a lot of incredible girls — people who live or have lived on my hall, been resident assistants with me, or served on past mission teams — who stepped up and helped make this such a fun experience. This was a really neat way to combine all of the different people whose friendships have meant so much to me.”

Shelton, who hopes to teach overseas after graduation, remembered attending the event as a prospective student, and felt honored to be selected as one of the candidates.

“It seemed surreal,” she said. “One of the first experiences I had at SBU was going to Mr. and Miss Southwest. I remember thinking how awesome it was and that I would like to be a part of it. It felt great to show how much I love my school and my class.”

The beginnings of the “Miss Southwest” pageant date back to the 1930s, with “Mr. Southwest” being added in 1963. The pageant, which was organized by the students of SBU’s University Activities Council, was one of the keynote happenings of Bearcat Days, a visit event in which admitted students considering SBU attendance were hosted on campus.

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 7:25 AM with the headline "Highland student crowned ‘Miss Southwest’."