Kaylee Jones
Assistant Managing Editor
Taylor Thompson, CU’s Coordinator of Diversity Affairs, is officially Oklahoma royalty.
Thompson was selected as Miss Black Oklahoma USA 2014 in September.
“It has been a long time coming,” Thompson said. “I first competed in the state pageant in 2007; I was first runner-up, so to finally reach that goal was awesome.”
After completing the evaluation process, which included a phone interview with the national pageant office, Thompson was named a Delegate-at-Large, which Thompson explained means there was no state pageant.
Thompson will represent Oklahoma at the national Black USA Pageant in Washington, D.C. in August 2014.
“We will have a panel interview with our judges, and we will also compete in a fitness wear segment, a talent portion, then evening wear, and then the awesome onstage question and answer,” Thompson explained.
Thompson first competed in the Miss Lawton Pageant in 2005, placing as 4th runner-up. After her first attempt at the state title, Thompson became Miss Black CU in 2008.
“I’ve had nothing but good experiences,” Thompson said of the pageant environment. “I think I’ve been lucky, but I think [pageants] have definitely taught me a lot, everything from public speaking to interview skills. I don’t think there is a much harder interview than a pageant interview.”
Thompson said she started competing in pageants because she loved to sing.
“Pageants were kind of my way to be able to get out on stage and sing in front of people,” Thompson said. “That’s really my draw, definitely the talent portion.”
As Miss Black Oklahoma USA, Thompson said part of her year of service would include speaking to women about keeping their hearts healthy, as the pageant has a national partnership with the Heart Truth Campaign.
While her platform is mostly about building self-worth, Thompson added that her message to girls looking to compete would be to have a goal and mind and keep striving toward it.
“I think very early on I learned the art of perseverance,” Thompson said. “Everything is not going to go according to plan the first time around, but you definitely have to stay on the right track, stay positive, keep the faith and you’ll get there.”
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