Contact: Sasha Steinberg

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Thirty-six students will compete for the title of Miss Maroon and White 2020 at Mississippi State University on Thursday [Feb. 27].

The winner will be selected alongside four Maroon and White beauties at a public program in historic Lee Hall’s Bettersworth Auditorium. The program begins at 7 p.m., with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $15 for the general public and $10 for MSU students with current I.D. Tickets are available through the Center for Student Activities in Colvard Student Union, Suite 314 or online at https://msstate.universitytickets.com.

In addition to Mississippi, this year’s contestants represent Alabama, Georgia, Illinois and Tennessee. They include (by hometown):

ADAMSVILLE, Tennessee—Shelbie B. Prather, a senior political science major.

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama—Hunter G. Rush, a junior chemical engineering major.

BRANDON—Shelby G. Freeman, a sophomore marketing major.

BROWNSVILLE, Tennessee—Ellie K. Riddle, a freshman fashion design and merchandising/design and product development major.

CARRIERE—Jessie V. Besanson, a senior biochemistry/pre-medicine major.

CLINTON—Josie M. Nasekos, a freshman industrial engineering major.

ELLISVILLE—Ashlynn R. Breland, a senior fashion design and merchandising major.

FLORA—Julia R. Garletts, a senior psychology major; and Elly P. Lamb, a junior communication/public relations major.

FLORENCE, Alabama—Cheyenne E. Simmons, a senior agricultural engineering technology and business/enterprise management major.

GOREVILLE, Illinois—Camille E. Green, a junior wildlife, fisheries and aquaculture and political science double-major.

HATTIESBURG—Callie A. Farris, a junior communication/public relations major.

HERNANDO—Melodie R. Bell, a freshman communication/public relations major; and Anna Macon Gilder, a junior industrial engineering major.

HOUSTON—Quaneisha L. Pratt, a senior interdisciplinary studies major.

KOSCIUSKO—Adyson D. Poole, a sophomore landscape architecture major.

LOUISVILLE—Iris L. Keen, a senior psychology major.

LUCEDALE—Mary M. Hulbert, a junior business administration/international business and foreign language/Spanish double-major.

LUMBERTON—Angel Gail Lang, a junior business administration major.

LYNCHBURG, Tennessee—Abbigaile M. Hunsucker, a freshman animal and dairy sciences major.

MADISON—Hailey C. Soper, a freshman business administration major.

MERIDIAN—Kaylan A. McCoy, a junior kinesiology/sports administration major.

OLIVE BRANCH—Isabella K. Kail, a junior educational psychology major.

PELHAM, Alabama—Alexandria K. “Alex” Jordan, a sophomore social work major.

PHILADELPHIA—Abby L. Seale, a sophomore kinesiology/neuromechanics major.

PICAYUNE—Renelle E. “Belle” Failla, a senior mechanical engineering major.

RED BAY, ALABAMA—Elizabeth A. Markham, a sophomore elementary education/middle school major.

ROSWELL, Georgia—Grace N. “Gracie” Anello, a sophomore geosciences/professional meteorology major.

SARAH—Shelby G. Cole, a sophomore secondary education/biology education major.

SENATOBIA—Lydia R. Elam, a freshman animal and dairy sciences major.

STARKVILLE—Harper E. Laird, a sophomore interdisciplinary studies major.

THEODORE, Alabama—Madeleine I. Thompson, a freshman communication/broadcast and digital journalism major.

TIFTON, Georgia—Mary A. “Alex” Anders, a junior communication/broadcasting major.

VICKSBURG—Madeline G. “Maddie” Stokes, a freshman kinesiology/clinical exercise physiology major.

WEST POINT—Mikayla R. Poindexter, a junior special education major.

WINFIELD, Alabama—Mary Katherine Beard, a freshman elementary education/early childhood major.

For more information on MSU’s Center for Student Activities, visit https://www.union.msstate.edu/student-activities.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.