Saige Drake, a junior general business major from Brandon, Miss., was crowned the University of Mississippi’s Most Beautiful in this year’s Parade of Beauties on Saturday, March 1. Sixty-nine young women competed for the title at the Gertrude C. Ford Center at 3 p.m.
Parade of Beauties is organized by the Pageant Committee of the Student Activities Association. This year’s co-directors of pageants are Sheridan Garbe, a junior public policy leadership major, and Adya Praveen, junior psychology major. The event was emceed by Most Beautiful 2024 Isabella Nolen and Miss University 2025 McKenzie Cox.
Drake was crowned after Nolen took her final walk as the reigning Most Beautiful.
While Drake participated in pageants as a child, this was her first pageant in almost 15 years. Drake was not expecting to win, but expressed her gratitude for the outpouring of support and love the university has shown her.
“I was not expecting it all, but it’s such an honor, and I’m just so grateful,” Drake said. “I’ve been able to have so many amazing opportunities to feel at home and be able to grow and do all these things I’ve always wanted to do. (Ole Miss helps students get) out of their comfort zones to do things like this.”
After competing in the preliminary contest of evening wear, the contestants who earned the 25 highest scores moved on to the Top 25 competition in which the evening wear category made up 80% of their final score, and their 30-second answer to a randomly selected question made up the other 20%.
This year, 26 contestants made it into the Top 25 round.
The 2025 Top 25 Beauties were announced in no particular order as: Saige Drake, Caroline Milroy, Catherine Heckemeyer, Brooke Bumgarner, Ella Easterling, McCall Gilmore, Mattie Grace Morris, Amelia Bowman, Celeste Lay, Rose Stafford, Abney Grace Pittman, Nealee Turner, Amaris Leon, Mary Gaston Blair, Claire Ulmer, McKinley Farese, Olivia Day, Jacqueline Pratt, Kirby-Anne Christiansen, Jaci Osment, Mary Caroline Purkey, Mia Elizabeth Farris, Brittyn Wheeler, Kinsley Alexander, Abby Sheffield and Miriam Hockman.
After showcasing their evening wear for the second time, the contestants chose a question from a glass bowl onstage. The contestants were given 30 seconds to answer and were judged on public speaking, confidence of answer and quality of answer. The questions were primarily personal, asking things such as “What does success mean to you?” and “What has been your favorite moment at Ole Miss?”
The Top 10 Beauties were announced in no particular order as: Easterling, Day, Sheffield, Farris, Leon, Morris, Pittman, Farese, Bungarner and Ulmer.
Along with the pageant festivities, SAA also arranged for multiple other types of entertainment throughout the evening.
During the entertainment portions, the Ole Miss Dance Company performed a routine from their fall 2024 show, “Reflection.” The 2024 Ole Miss Idol winner Guy Vincent also performed an acoustic cover. While waiting for scores to be tallied by official auditors and graduate students Katelin Anderson and Grace Schafer, Cox announced that the pageant’s donation drive had collected over $8,000 for Grove Grocery, the university’s food pantry.
Cox explained her favorite parts of being involved in pageants at the university.
“Something that really struck me while standing and listening to the onstage questions was the outpouring love for the Ole Miss community,” Cox said. “I know that each of us in the audience have been touched by this place in some way, whether it’s being a family member or maybe you’re an alum or a student yourself, and it’s just so nice to be able to support the students that are wanting to represent this university.”
