Zach Maxwell
Staff writer
LaTisa Davidson was crowned Miss Indian SOSU for 2013-14 at a pageant held Wednesday, Aug. 28 in the Glen D. Johnson Student Union.
Davidson is a junior nursing major from Rattan. She is a member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma and works as a resident assistant. She was also a Masonic Lodge “Student of Today.”
“I love being at Southeastern, and it’s important for me to represent my tribe in a positive way,” Davidson said after the pageant. She recently joined the Native American Students Association and said she was “really excited” to be picked from the three contestants.
The runner-up contestants were Katelynn Humphries, a sophomore elementary education major from Durant, and Erin McDaniel, a senior hospitality management major from Durant.
Each contestant was introduced to a crowd of around 100 people gathered in the auditorium classroom in the Student Union. Davidson sang a traditional Choctaw hymn; Humphries offered storytelling; and McDaniel performed a monologue about the resilience of Native Americans.
NASA Acting President Brenner Billy asked questions of each contestant. A panel of three judges (SE graduates Nicole Billy, Twahna Hamill and Stacey Wesberry) were tasked with scoring each participant.
Each contestant wore the traditional long dress of the Choctaw Nation, with accompanying beadwork. Davidson was crowned with a blue, white and gold beaded crown as well as a sash.
This is the third year of the Miss Indian SOSU pageant, and for the first time the winner was introduced at the Choctaw Nation Labor Day Festival.