A little over an hour before the pageant began, Arnezia Powers’ nerves were at an all-time high. The anticipation of the moment she had been working towards for months was here. 

She was juxtaposed with the excitement of finally showcasing what she’d been practicing for months while also being nervous about messing up in front of the crowd in the Grand Ballroom. 

After a nearly four-hour pageant, the time to hear who would be crowned as Miss Black EIU 2025 came. 

The crowd waited in anticipation, patting their thighs mimicking a drumroll. After a dramatic pause, the name Arnezia Powers was yelled. The crowd erupted, and Powers stood in astonishment to hear her name called. 

The seven contestants participated in the 52nd Annual Miss Black EIU Scholarship Pageant: Alaina Collins, a junior health science major; Aaniyah Hampton, a sophomore health science major; Angie Jenkins, a junior mass communication major; Anna Jones, a freshman finance major; Jamey Kane, a junior biological sciences major; Arnezia Powers, a junior mathematics teacher education major; and Drew Williams, a senior biological sciences major. 

The contestants were judged in four categories: 

• Creative expression – Contestants choose to highlight something personal to them in their own creative expression. 

• African garment/heritage speech – Contestants walk in African apparel to a pre-recorded speech expressing what their culture and heritage means to them. 

• Individual talents – Each contestant showcase their own individual talent. 

• Evening wear/impromptu question – Each contestant chooses between one and 17 random questions while wearing evening wear. 

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Sia DeyKoontz

The Miss Black EIU Scholarship Pageant contestants start the pageant performing to the song "Shine Bright Like a Diamond" by Rihanna on Saturday in the Grand Ballroom. The theme for this year was A Diamond of the Season.

For her creative expression, Powers acted in a performance which emphasized the stress of being a first-generation college student. 

Two other students acted in the play, portraying her parents inquiring about college, and Powers, stressed, exclaimed how much pressure there is on her while also dealing with the difficulty of college and not having the support that she needs. 

“I feel that as a first-generation college student, we feel like nobody’s understanding what we’re going through,” Powers said. “And we feel like we’re going through all of these challenges and all of this new stuff all by ourselves because we didn’t have nobody in our family that we could out to that already had this experience.” 

Powers said she wanted to bring awareness to first-generation college students and the pressure they have to be successful. 

While walking in a blue and yellow dress for the African garments category, Powers’ heritage speech highlighted some of the experiences she has while being an African American woman. 

She talked about how she feels that she lives through her ancestors, how her mother’s friends’ kids were her cousins despite not having any blood relation. Powers also talked about having to correct others when they mispronounce her name. 

During the talent section, Powers demonstrated what she has been familiar with for most of her life, praise dancing. 

Praise dancing is a form of worship which shows gratitude, thanks and/or praise to God. 

She said she started praise dancing when she attended church with her aunt at a young age. The church she went to had a praise dance ministry for children, which allowed her to grow relationships with other churchgoers. 

“I got really involved in that, and it was really a fun outlet because it was something different that I didn’t get to do,” she said. “I made good relationships, so with that it just allowed me to grow closer to God and go to church more.” 

Amid her performance, audience members cheered loudly and rose to their feet. 

Powers said she is very active in her church and that she has been praising dancing for a large portion of her life but took a break during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“It’s something that I can actually put my all into,” Powers said. “Doing any other talent, I don’t think I would be able to put my all into.” 

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Sia DeyKoontz

Jamey Kane, a junior biological sciences major, gets ready in the back dressing rooms with Angie Jenkins, helping each other with hair and makeup before the pageant.

During the impromptu question section of the show, Powers was asked, “As Miss Black EIU, what advice would you give to your younger self?” 

“As Miss Black EIU, some advice I would give to my younger self is every walk that you take, make sure that you take it with your head held high, no matter how scary, no matter how hard it may look, you got whatever you put your mind to,” Powers said. 

After her name was called, Powers was met with a hug by the event coordinator Ariel Taylor, who is also the advisor of the Black Student Union of which Powers is the historian of. 

Powers said the pageant would not have been possible without Taylor. 

“Ariel is Superwoman,” Powers said. “She does it all. I definitely want to thank Ari [Taylor] for everything she does for me and my pageant sisters and for this pageant period.” 

Powers said that she has grown a bond with her pageant sisters. 

“I love my pageant sisters,” Powers said. “If any of them would have won I still would have been happy for them.” 

All seven of the contestants have been going through a lot within and outside of the pageant and have supported each other, Powers said. 

“I definitely love them and that’s going to be the relationship that I’ll always have with them,” Powers said. 

Powers’ sister, Jameela Stevenson, said it felt good to see her big sister win. Stevenson said Powers has been talking about the pageant for a while. 

Stevenson said Powers called her a lot after practice for assistance in her performance.  

“I just feel so proud of her,” Stevenson said. 

She said seeing Powers win in this pageant motivated her to compete in a similar pageant at her school, Millikin University. 

Not only does she look up to Powers, but Stevenson said she felt lucky to have her as a big sister. 

Powers’ family jumped in excitement when they heard her name was called. 

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Sia DeyKoontz

Drew Williams won the highest score in the talent category for her chemistry experiment on stage at Miss Black EIU 2025 on Saturday. She mixed acid levels, and brought Billy the Panther to help.

Other contestants received plaques for their performances throughout the night. 

Williams received the highest overall score in the talent category, Miss Enterprise, the people’s choice award and runner up. 

Jenkins received the highest score in the creative expressions category. 

Collins received the highest overall score in the African garments/heritage speech and the evening wear/impromptu question categories. 

Kane received the Miss Black EIU scholarship award. 

Hampton won second runner up. 

Jones received the Miss Ebony award. 

Powers also received Miss Togetherness, Miss Congeniality and the judge’s choice award. 

Cam’ron Hardy can be reached at 581-2812 or at cahardy@eiu.edu.