Riley Cooper proudly stood for her philanthropy, the Children’s Miracle Network, as she was crowned the first Miss Lady of the Nile.

Delta Sigma Phi hosted their first annual philanthropy pageant, Miss Lady of the Nile, on Thursday, in the Hangar, formerly the Student Union Building Ballrooms.

The first ever Miss Lady of the Nile was crowned by Monica Whitman, Miss ULM 2019.

“I am very honored and honestly, the best part is all the money we raised for so many different philanthropies,” said Cooper, a sophomore mathematics major.

Cooper was one of seven ladies to compete for this crown. The only requirement to compete was to be currently enrolled as a ULM student. They were asked to have fun and represent something great or something that they’re proud of.

“I’m very proud of all the girls competing, and I’m so happy for Riley. She not only looked beautiful, but you can tell she’s so passionate about her philanthropy, Children’s Miracle Network which is also the philanthropy I raise money for as Miss ULM,” Whitman said.

Hollis Walker, a senior kinesiology major and Delta Sigma Phi member,  took ownership of orchestrating this pageant with the help of his fraternity brothers and other friends.

The pageant not only honored Delta Sigma Phi’s philanthropy, American Red Cross, but also each contestant’s philanthropy they chose to represent.

“I have a big heart for philanthropy. I wanted the contestants to feel special and represent something close to their heart,” Walker said.

The Children’s Coalition, Children’s Miracle Network, Special Olympics and five other philanthropies were represented, with over $1,000 being raised.

Brianna Hutson, a freshman pre-pharmacy major, was a crowd favorite and competed to raise money for the Special Olympics.

“I competed in this pageant, because it was for a good cause. I love Special Olympics,”Hutson said.

This is her first pageant since her freshman year in high school, and she expressed how good it felt to be back on stage.

Tristan Conville, a senior pre-occupational therapy major, came out to support her sorority sister from Alpha Omicron Pi, Sarah Alford, another contestant in the pageant.

“I think the pageant was really good. It takes talent and nerve to do this. I liked how it was smaller. It seemed more meaningful,” Conville said.

The only other pageant she’s attended was Miss ULM back in Nov.

Conville said that the only difference between the two competitions was that there was no talent and swimwear portion in Miss Lady of the Nile.

Walker wishes the pageant to grow bigger, even though the paticipation already shocked.

“I was not expecting so many people to come and show support or so many sponsorship donations. Seeing how successful this pageant was, being our first one, I definitely see pageants in our future for more money for philanthropies, a bigger show and more participants,” Walker said.

The second Miss Lady of the Nile pageant will be in 2020.