Haley Arrington is Miss Birmingham

We don't normally cover beauty pageants, but it is a competition and having wonderful women like this at JSU can only help recruiting. Article is from the JSU PR Department

JSU's Haley Arrington is New Miss Birmingham
2009-12-04
Congratulations to Haley Arrington, a senior music education/voice major at Jacksonville State University, who was crowned Miss Birmingham on November 8. The title is Ms. Arrington's fifth Miss Alabama/Miss America open preliminary title, which seals her qualification to compete for the state crown next summer.

Ms. Arrington has competed in the Miss Alabama pageant four times and is eligible for one more shot at the title. Last year, she came very close to winning, clinching fourth runner up and the overall talent competition. Other Miss Alabama preliminary titles Miss Arrington has held include Miss Marshall County, Miss West Central Alabama, Miss East Central Alabama and Miss Point Mallard. She also competed in the Miss JSU pageant, where she won the talent competition.

Haley Arrington (official Miss Alabama pageant photo)

A Glencoe resident, Ms. Arrington is completing her student internship in choral conducting at Emma Sansom Middle School and Gadsden City High School. She will receive her bachelor's degree from JSU on Dec. 18 and plans to pursue her master's degree.

When she isn't competing, Ms. Arrington is performing. She has has been a regular with the Jacksonville Opera Theatre since 2007, and was recently cast in the JSU Drama Department's Spring 2010 production of Beauty and the Beast. She also performs regularly with Opera Birmingham and sings with a USO Group a few times a year.

Teresa Stricklin, a former Miss America first runner-up and JSU alumna who is now on the vocal faculty, has coached Ms. Arrington for several years. She states emphatically that Ms. Arrington is not your typical beauty queen.

"Haley is flesh and blood, a real person, who sings like a diva. She would make a fabulous Miss Alabama."

According to Ms. Arrington, competing in pageants has been about much more than the title. She says she is "very grateful" that scholarship money she has received along with her crowns has funded her entire college education. She also appreciates the fact that each pageant has brought more opportunities to focus on her volunteer work with Big Brothers/Big Sisters. She has worked with the agency over several counties and continues to raise awareness for the need for new mentors through her participation in pageants. She is also involved with the Children's Miracle Network, the official philanthropy of the Miss America pageant.

The Miss Alabama scholarship pageant will take place during the second week in June, 2010.

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