Junior Tori Kiser was crowned Miss UCA 2025, earning over $10,000 in scholarships and gifts. 

“I am so excited, honestly. I can’t even put it into words,” Kiser said. “This title is something I’ve been dreaming about ever since I decided to go to UCA, and I am absolutely honored to represent the university.” 

Kiser, a biology major, said she looks forward to “getting involved in the university as a whole.”

“Being on the dance team, I am able to go and represent the university but I feel like this title will really help me represent everyone as a whole,” she said.

The crown was passed to Kiser by Kennedy Holland, Miss UCA 2024.

“I am excited to pass it on,” Holland said. “Tori is going to be an incredible representative of the university and she is going to be a phenomenal representative at Miss Arkansas. I know she is going to take her community service initiative and it’s going to flourish on this campus — so I am really proud of her.”

Kiser’s community service initiative, Mindful Recovery, aims to support athletes’ mental health.

In the question round of the pageant, Kiser responded to a question regarding her CSI.

“I feel like the very first thing that is needed is being able to reach out to those athletes, make it into wherever they’re practicing and being able to talk to them about what mental health truly is,” she said. “Whenever I first tore my ACL, I just thought it was physical, and I quickly learned that it had a huge impact on my mental health. Being able to realize that before an injury occurs is what’s going to be key to helping our athletes see how mental health truly impacts our life.”

Kiser said she is excited to implement her goals on campus.

“I am really looking forward to getting more involved in the on-campus events and being able to get out into the community as much as possible. And I am working on my capstone, which is directly related to my CSI, which is advocating for athletes’ mental health — especially post-injury,” Kiser said.

Holland said being Miss UCA 2024 has been “one of the most transformative years” of her life.

“Just because of the support I’ve had over the past years from my directors, my sorority and my friends and family — and I am so thankful for that,” she said. “It has just been one of the most incredible experiences.”

Holland said her biggest advice for Kiser is to use her support system.

“Being Miss UCA is very similar to being Miss Arkansas in the sense that you’re so busy and you have a lot of appearances that are so focused around the university, just like as Miss Arkansas you have a lot of events that are based around the state of Arkansas — but you have a group of people that are going to rally around you, so I would tell her to lean on those people,” Holland said. “You have an entire board of directors, an entire staff of volunteers, an entire sisterhood of former Miss UCAs that have gone through it and know what it’s like and would be there in a heartbeat.” 

Ebony Mitchell, former Miss Arkansas, Miss UCA 2019 and emcee for the Nov. 17 pageant, said, “Our new Miss UCA will receive a $6,000 scholarship to UCA and over $4,000 in other awards and in kind, gifts, scholarships and awards totaling $3,700 will be awarded to other winners during the competition today.”

Alongside being crowned Miss UCA 2025, Kiser won the photogenic award, the overall dance award, the evening gown award and the on-stage interview award.

Abby Bounds, a senior information systems major, won first runner-up, the producer’s award and the overall vocal or instrumental award.

Anna Brandon, a sophomore in journalism and theater, won second runner-up.

Judith Ramirez, a junior psychology major, won third runner-up, the bear spirit award, the academic achievement award and the congeniality award.

Siera Love, a sophomore marketing major, won fourth runner-up.

Other competitors include Kierra Collier, a freshman marketing major, Joy Nance, a family and consumer science major, Yaren Akbulut, a freshman computer science major, Eriah Garland, a freshman criminology major, and Mackenzi Clark, a freshman political science and nursing major.

Holland said her favorite round to watch is talent.

“My all-time favorite to compete in and watch is talent because it is where everyone takes a bit of creative freedom and expresses their personality,” she said. “It is really fun to sit back and watch talent because you get to see everyone’s story and personal background and what they’re like as a human.”

UCA President Houston Davis said the Miss UCA pageant is a 61-year tradition

“The primary purposes of the Miss UCA scholarship competition are to encourage, promote and support young women as they achieve their academic and personal goals,” he said. “This afternoon, 10 dynamic women who are also leaders on our campus competed for this title and over $10,000 in scholarship and in-kind gifts, and the winner will spend the next year promoting the university and her personal community service initiative.”