Miss Virginia is coming to Liberty. Though the pageant has spent the last 64 years in Roanoke, it will be hosted by Liberty University beginning in June 2018. Organizers say Liberty will provide a wider variety of resources and make the pageant more cost-effective.
“The Miss Virginia organization is delighted to partner with Liberty University and bring our competition to Liberty in 2018,” Co-Executive Director M.C. Gravely said. “We just can’t wait. The venue and the facilities here are amazing. I’m sure it’s going to be a great partnership.”
Liberty students are no strangers to the pageant. Alumna Shannon Bream (’93), a current Fox News Channel anchor, won the Miss Virginia crown in 1990. Current Liberty University School of Law student Courtney Garrett not only won the Miss Virginia pageant in 2014, but she was also runner-up in the 2015 Miss America pageant.
The school’s extensive facilities make it possible to pass along savings that are unavailable at commercial venues in Roanoke. Organizers are hoping the extra money will allow them to increase scholarships and possibly return to television. The Miss Virginia organization stopped televising the pageant three years ago when costs became prohibitive.
“We feel like maybe in another year or so, we will be able to go back on TV,” Co-Executive Director Harlen Gudger said. “Hopefully, by being in this venue, we will return to broadcast.”
“As we move forward, we feel this is the perfect place for us to rebrand ourselves and get out into the Virginia community again,” Gudger said.
Lee Beaumont, Liberty’s senior vice president of auxiliary services, said the university has provided scholarship money to the Miss Virginia pageant in the past and saw this partnership as a wise opportunity.
“They approached us about hosting the pageant,” Beaumont said. “We thought it would be good for several reasons. It will help Lynchburg with tourism, and it will help Liberty by getting teens and pre-teens on campus so they can see our facilities.”
It should also bring a big boost to Lynchburg’s economy.
“Last year’s economic impact was about $1.1 to $1.2 (million), somewhere in that area, in Roanoke,” Gudger said. “We definitely expect it to be at least that and probably more.”
Next year, the pageant will also take on a new name: “The Miss Virginia Pageant at Liberty University.”
