Meet the Miss Auburn 2014 candidates:
Kinsey Crow "Connecting cultures with Kinsey Crow"
Kinsey Crow, junior in nursing, said she has always been interested in being a part of Auburn’s Student Government Association.
“One of my friends is president of the College Kid’s Tailgate, which just became an official organization,” Crow said. “They told me they wanted to nominate me for Miss Auburn and asked if I wanted to do it. I have always wanted to be involved with SGA, so I was really excited and honored when they chose me.”
According to Crow, however, winning is about more than just a position. If she wins, Crow said she hopes to promote interaction among cultures on Auburn’s campus.
“I really want to encourage and facilitate friendships between international and American students,” Crow said. “The Auburn family is such a beautiful thing, and I want to see everybody included and welcomed into it with open arms.”
With almost 1,000 international students representing more than 80 countries, Auburn University is home to a very diverse student body.
“There is such a cultural richness on this campus,” Crow said. “That’s why I was very disheartened to find out that a majority of international students leave the United States without making even one American friend. I want to create a more openhearted and diverse Auburn family.”
Crow said she believes lasting friendships between international and local students are possible, and she draws inspiration for her cause from a very well known text.
“I really love the line in the Auburn Creed that reads, ‘I believe in the human touch, which cultivates sympathy with my fellow men and mutual helpfulness and brings happiness for all,’” Crow said. “That is what I would like to see happen at Auburn. I want to see connections between all the nations that are represented here.”
Sloane Bell "Foster the future with Sloane"
Sloane Bell, junior in finance, said she never thought she would make it to the top 5 in the Miss Auburn campaign.
“I’ve just been going through the process, and I never expected to make it this far,” Bell said.
During her campaign, Bell will be raising money for the Big House Foundation, an Opelika-based nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of children in foster care.
“A lot of foster children are moved around a lot, so there’s a lot of inconsistency there,” Bell said. “Big House exists to pour love onto them, and kind of make their lives a little more normal.” Bell said she felt a personal connection to this issue.
“Over the summer I was introduced to the sweetest little boy, Caleb, who is in foster care right now,” Bell said. “The family he is with has to face the reality that this little boy might not be able to do some things a lot of us take for granted, like go to college.”
With Caleb in mind, Bell decided she wanted to start a scholarship for teens in foster care as soon as the fall semester started. When she got back to Auburn, however, Bell said she learned the University was already working with the Big House Foundation.
“When I got back, I found out Auburn was passionate about this issue, too,” Bell said. “They signed a contract with Big House for renewable scholarships for two foster teens who are old enough and able to come to Auburn.”
Sloane said she hopes to raise enough money to cover the additional costs of college, like textbooks and meal plans. According to Bell, education is an important factor in a successful life.
“Studies show only a very small amount of foster teens in the United States go on to higher education,” Bell said. “A good education can change the course of your life, and I want to help these people have a normal college experience.”
Rebekah Davis "Reach out with Rebekah"
Rebekah Davis, junior in accounting, originally had other plans for the upcoming school year.
“When I looked at my senior year, I did not expect this at all,” Davis said. “I had other plans, and they ended up falling through. This all just happened, and it was so exciting.”
According to Davis, she found Auburn University’s size a little daunting at first. “I come from a really small town, and I graduated with a really small class,” Davis said. “When I got to Auburn, I was kind of intimidated by how big it was. I really wanted to get involved, but one thing I never really got involved with was volunteering.”
Davis said she hopes to make volunteering in the Auburn community easier for future students through her platform.
“I want to create a class that is worth three credit hours, and that exposes people to the different volunteer opportunities on Auburn’s campus,” Davis said. “I think it will create a way for students to find what they are passionate about. I also want to revamp a branch within SGA that helps with the publicity of philanthropic events.”
According to Davis, she wants to create a volunteer database will help raise student involvement.
“I think there should be a way for the University to monitor all of our volunteer hours via our Ignited cards and hopefully post those annually,” Davis said. “It’s all about reaching out, and getting people involved.”
Davis said she hopes to leave a positive impact on Auburn, no matter the outcome of her Miss Auburn campaign.
“Nothing is for certain,” Davis said. “I just want to encourage people to get involved, no matter where they come from. I hope people will look at this platform and start volunteering their time, because it is really important.”
Jazzmin Carr "A.I.M. with Jazzmin"
Jazzmin Carr, junior in English literature and sociology, said she hopes to help children with life threatening conditions through her campaign.
“When it came time for nominations, I thought it would be a really good way to get that out there to really try to form a movement for it,” Carr said.
Carr said she hopes to create a partnership between Auburn University and children with terminal illnesses, disabilities or traumatic injuries.
“We will be working with them to give them the college experience they may never live to see,” Carr said. “We will also do things like sending them birthdays in a box or sending them greeting cards. We just want to do lots of different things to uplift them during their surgeries or while they are in the hospital. Realistically, the experience that we all get to have here, they may never live to see or they may not have the physical ability to be able to come.”
According to Carr, there is not another program like the one she has in mind.
“The more and more I talk to the families of these disabled children, there is really not any other outlet for them to get that kind of experience,” Carr said.
Most of all, though, Carr said she wants to send a powerful message to Auburn students.
“I hope to make Auburn students more appreciative of the experiences and opportunities we are afforded with,” Carr said. “I want them to see how fortunate we are, and that life really is not promised. I hope they will embrace and experience everything they possibly can as college students, and I also want Auburn students to use all the talents they are given to really impact others outside of the Auburn campus.”
Caroline Stephens "Spark a change with Stephens"
For Caroline Stephens, junior in political science and psychology, the decision to run for Miss Auburn was not a difficult one to make.
“I am an SGA senator at large right now,” Davis said. “I have really loved representing Auburn through that position, so this just kind of seemed like a natural step for me.”
Stephens said she hopes her platform, random acts of kindness, will inspire people to change how they treat people. “I really hope to spark a change through my campaign,” Stephens said. “No matter what happens, I just hope we help Auburn students reach out to others.”
During her campaign, Stephens will be encouraging Auburn students to perform random acts of kindness for each other. “I think everyone should know how to just be there for each other,” Stephens said. “It is so important to know how to serve other people. To me, that is something that you can’t really learn in a classroom.”
According to Stephens, kindness is a trait that is often overlooked. “I think it is really important to do just simple things for other people,” Stephens said.
“For anyone, whether you know them or not. During my campaign, I just really want to show Auburn students how important and how easy it is to just reach out and volunteer their time, their effort, their anything. The simplest thing you do for someone can really change their life.”
Stephens said she hopes her campaign will make Auburn an even better place.
“We already have the Auburn family, and I think that is such a great thing,” Stephens said. “I just hope we can help bring people even closer together, and show people how great and how simple it is just to be kind to each other.”
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