MURRAY — Before March 27, Hanna Irvin said she had never thought of entering a beauty pageant.
However, after her sorority at Murray State University, Alpha Omicron Pi, selected her, along with three of her AOPi sisters, to be contestants in the 2021 Miss Murray State University Pageant, she suddenly found herself in a new world. So she sought advice, learned, on the fly, what goes into competing in such an event, and entered the fray.
Winning was an afterthought .. until her name was announced as the new Miss MSU.
“I actually cried a little bit. I was really shocked. I was not expecting to win because the other top 15 girls were all incredible,” said Irvin, a 2019 graduate of Murray High. “It was really exciting and I was overwhelmed with a lot of happiness. But I also was really proud of myself that I had made it that far.”
In being named Miss MSU, Irvin became the eighth winner to have come from either Murray High or Calloway County High School since 1970. Murray State Advisor to Student Government & Student Organizations, Jeanie Morgan, said this week that 1970 is when the university’s Student Government Association began running the event. It is believed that the pageant was in existence before 1970, but there were no records available.
Irvin said it is an honor to represent her home community in this fashion.
“Wow! I…
