IU senior Alexxys Standish was crowned Miss Indiana University 2025 on Sunday evening in Wilkie Auditorium. The winner of Miss IU receives a $1,500 scholarship from the IU Foundation and goes on to compete at Miss Indiana.
Members of the student organization Pageantry at IU act as an advisory board to produce the annual Miss IU Scholarship Competition, as well as two to three service events each semester. This year’s pageant opened with all eight contestants performing choreography to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” alongside Miss IU 2024 Kat Nagler. Everyone was dressed in black cocktail attire and took turns introducing themselves at the end of the dance.
The next phase of the competition was the on-stage interview. Each contestant answered a question related to their chosen community service initiative which they would advocate for if they won the Miss IU title. Judges scored the contestants on the intricacy of their responses and not if they agreed or disagreed.
Before the competition, contestants went through a lengthy preparation process where Standish said she learned new things about herself while discovering new skills.
“I’m just kind of having fun with it I haven’t really seen any big challenges, except maybe learning the choreography and getting it down,” Standish said. “I can actually remember and memorize a speech a lot faster than I think I can. So, all will be well, I actually have it under control and I don’t need to overthink it.”
The judges this year were IU alumni Bianca Davis, Cathi Jackson, Julie Oelschlager, Daniel Schlegel Jr. and visiting faculty member Ramir Williams, senior space planner Tony White and local Miss America director Evan Elliot were this year’s auditors, who manually tabulate the scores. Judges scored each delegate on a scale of 1-10 for each competition phase.
IU freshman and contestant Alana Trissel was given the idea to compete when her family friend Kalyn Melham, Miss Indiana 2024, told her about it. Trissel said she went out of her comfort zone to compete but quickly realized how supportive everyone was throughout the competition process.
“I think that as a woman, it’s important to put yourself out there, to find self-confidence and just attacking the world, which is something that I’d like to continue into my womanhood,” Trissel said. “The most fun part was being able to have lunch with our sponsors and the people that contribute to this event. I have learned just how accepting and helpful everyone can be through this whole process.”
After the interview portion, contestants took part in the talent phase which featured a mix of two vocal performances, two instrumental performances, a lyrical dance routine, a poetry performance, a memoir recitation and what is known by Miss America as a HERStory. This was IU freshman Jyllian Knolinski’s second local pageant. She is involved with the Singing Hoosiers on campus and has been dancing since she was three, which led her to choreograph a dance in honor of her sister.
The musical theater production will run until Feb. 12.
“It’s always been something that I’ve loved. My talent is a dance that is dedicated to my sister as a reminder to come back up from the hard times in life,” Knolinski said.
Pageantry at IU asked attendees bring donations for Crimson Cupboard, a food pantry that provides free food for Bloomington students, staff and faculty. This year, Pageantry at IU collected 160 donations and approximately $170. Every item brought for the food drive or every $1 donation equaled one raffle ticket. Members from the audience won various prizes like a giant container of cheeseballs and gift cards to Bucceto’s Pizza & Pasta. After the intermission, the student-run performance group, the Crimsonettes Dance Team performed a hip-hop routine to “Partition” and “Yoncé” by Beyoncé. After the performance, the final two phases of Miss IU began: fitness and evening gown.
While the auditors worked on finalizing the judges’ scores, faculty advisor for Pageantry at IU Teresa White was thanked for all that she has done for the organization since joining in 2011. Nagler then gave her farewell speech.
Standish won Miss IU as well as $250 for the People’s Choice Award and $250 for being the interview phase winner. Other contestants received scholarship awards, including $1,000 for the first runner-up Meg Dimmett who also received the Forever Miss IU Legacy Award with an additional $250 and another $250 for winning the talent phase. Trissel was second runner-up, winning $500 and Miasa Pratt won the Community Service Award of $250.
The contestants voted IU freshman Elizabeth Axsom for Miss Congeniality, who they said had an upbeat attitude and was helpful to other contests throughout the competition. Axsom has been competing in Miss Indiana pageants since her sophomore year of high school and said she was particularly drawn to Miss IU ever since she’d planned on attending IU. She said the experience had been a great one, highlighting all that White had done to prepare and inspire her during her preparation for the competition.
“I think it’s refreshing, but also, I think there’s so many more opportunities,” Axsom said. “You’re surrounded by women who make you grow as a person.”
