The Miss Ball State University Scholarship Program is officially the oldest and longest-running pageant in the state for the Miss Indiana preliminaries. The program awards the highest pageant scholarship dollar amount in the state at $1,000.
Carol Kosisko has been the executive director of the Miss Ball State pageant since 2002.
“All the winners have become my daughters,” says Kosisko. “I am blessed each year to have a new Miss Ball State daughter join the family and carry on the mission to empower young women to be everything they can dream of.”
During the pageant’s 67-year history, four Ball State University students and one Miss Ball State have earned the Miss Indiana title. Miss Ball State 2007, Nicole Rash, was first-runner-up at the 2008 Miss America pageant. Ball State University alumna and Muncie native Kalyn Melham is Miss Indiana 2024 and competed in the 2025 Miss America pageant. The executive director of the Miss Indiana pageant, Aren Straiger, is also a Ball State University alumna.
The mission of the Miss Ball State pageant is to promote Miss America’s mission of “preparing great women for the world, preparing the world for great women.” The Miss America pageant is one of the largest providers of scholarships for women in the United States.
Kosisko described Miss Ball State 2025, Emma Schneider, as fearless. Schneider will compete in the Miss Indiana 2025 competition in June.
Schneider is earning her Master of Business Administration degree, and double majoring in apparel design and fashion merchandising. Seamlessly combining her fashion and business studies, Schneider is CEO of Reflections Boutique and The Blonde Baker, and an instructor of applied business studies at Ball State University.
Schneider said a lot of soul searching is involved with pageantry preparation.
“You really have to know who you are and what you stand for,” says Schneider.
Schneider’s community service initiative is SAFE Project: Stop the Addiction Fatality Epidemic. Through her initiative, Schneider hopes to reduce the stigma associated with addiction and promote harm-reduction resources, including expanding the availability of naloxone. Locally, Schneider partners with Muncie Folk Collective, a nonprofit organization that provides outreach, support, and naloxone access points and vending machines.
Schneider dedicates 10 to 15 hours per week on pageant preparation. Schneider said her time tap dancing and teaching at Muncie dance company Dazzle Dance & Cheer prepared her for pageantry.
“I started [tap dancing] because I watched Shirley Temple on TV,” she says. “I wanted to do what she was doing, so I got out cookie sheets and my black patent leather tap shoes and I started tap dancing.”
Schneider has been tap dancing and handling cookie sheets ever since. She began tap dancing at 3 years old and launched The Blonde Baker in 2021.
“Emma, as a performer, she’s amazing,” says Betsy Curry, owner of Dazzle Dance & Cheer. “She definitely lights up the stage whenever she’s performing.”
Muncie native and Ball State sophomore Katey Cooper is a fresh face on the pageant scene. Cooper won first-runner-up in her first pageant, Miss Delaware County 2024 and second-runner-up in her second pageant, Miss Ball State 2025.
Cooper says she loves the over-the-top spectacle, sisterhood, and glamour of pageantry.
“There is truly a lot of sisterhood and fellowship behind the scenes,” she says. “For 99% of the day it doesn’t feel like you’re in competition with each other.”
Recruitment for Miss Ball State 2026 will begin in August.
Follow Miss Ball State 2025’s cookie, fashion, and community ventures on Instagram @missballstatein and @emmatheblondebaker.
For information on the Miss Ball State pageant, visit missballstatepageant.wixsite.com/missballstate/program.
