- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student finishes in 2018 Miss Arkansas Top 10

Ajani Oyindamola — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 16:06:59 +0000

Miss Greater Jacksonville Brooke Cornelius, a second-year student at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, was among the Top 10 finalists for the, winning $6,500 in scholarships. Cornelius, of Hope, competed for the fifth time in the Miss Arkansas Pageant. She got the opportunity to compete an extra year when the Miss America Organization raised the maximum age to compete from 24 to 25 earlier this year. While Miss Historic Batesville Claudio Raffo was crowned 2018 Miss Arkansas on June 17, Cornelius had a successful run in the pageant as a preliminary winner who also landed a spot in the pageant’s Top 10. During the preliminary competition on June 14, Cornelius was named co-winner in the Talent Preliminary competition with a tap dance routine set to “Thriller.” She also ran on an anti-bullying platform titled, “Protect Our Youth: Bullying is Not Ok!”

Photo of Brooke Cornelius by Miss Arkansas pageant.

As a Top 10 semifinalist, Cornelius received a $3,000 scholarship from the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Foundation. She also won the Buddy Coleman Memorial Overall Talent award with a $2,750 scholarship given by Buddy Coleman Family and the Sloane Roberts Overall Dance Award with a $750 scholarship provided by Michelle and John Mark Roberts. In 2016, Cornelius was the second-runner up. In 2017, she was recognized as a top-five Miss Arkansas CMN Miracle Maker fundraiser. Cornelius has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Henderson State University and hopes to combine the expertise from her undergraduate degree and future law degree to pursue a future as a corporate attorney. In the upper right photo, ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Bowen law student Brooke Cornelius (left) won the Preliminary Artistic Expression award during the Miss Arkansas Pageant preliminaries on June 14. She is shown with additional preliminary winners Kelsey Stone and Darynne Dahlem. Photo courtesy of Miss Arkansas Pageant.

��Vlog��ý Little Rock students win scholarships in Miss Arkansas Pageant preliminaries

Ajani Oyindamola — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 19:20:10 +0000

The two University of Arkansas at Little Rock students who are competing in the Miss Arkansas Pageant have both won scholarships for their fundraising efforts on behalf of the Children’s Miracle Network. Miss Greater Little Rock Brooke Cornelius and Miss Grand Prairie Taylor Jaggers received $500 scholarships from the Miss America Foundation for being two of the top five fundraisers for the Children’s Miracle Network, according to a from the Miss Arkansas Pageant. Cornelius received second place in the Children’s Miracle Network Miracle Maker Finalists, while Jaggers received fifth place. Children’s Miracle Network is the official national platform for both the Miss America and Miss America’s Outstanding Teen pageants. Since 2007, contestants on a local, state, and, national level have raised funds for the more than 170 children’s hospital that make up the Children’s Miracle Network. Arkansas Children’s Hospital serves as the state’s Children’s Miracle Network hospital. In May, the Miss Arkansas contestants toured the Little Rock hospital to see how the money raised is used to help children. Altogether, the 44 Miss Arkansas contestants raised over $34,000 this year. Cornelius, 23, of Hope, is a student at the William H. Bowen School of Law. She has held several pageant titles, including Miss Central Arkansas, Miss Henderson State University, and Miss South Central Arkansas. Her platform is “Protect Our Youth: Bullying is Not Ok!”. Her talent is a tap dance performance to the song, “Sandstorm.”

Miss Grand Prairie Taylor Jaggers. Photo courtesy of Miss Arkansas Scholarship Pageant, Inc.

Jaggers is a 20-year-old student from Rison. Her platform is “A Chance to Dance: Working to Achieve a Sound Body and Mind.” Her talent is a jazz dance performance to the song, “Big Spender.” This year’s Miss Arkansas Pageant celebrates the 80th year of the pageant. Forty-four contestants from around the state are competing for more than $167,000 in scholarship funds. The crowning for Miss Arkansas 2017 is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, June 17, at the Ron Robinson Center in Little Rock. Reigning Miss America Savvy Shields will be on hand to help crown the winner. The competition can be watched at .

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student, Miss Greater Little Rock, promotes anti-bullying platform

Jenny Lambert — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 16:10:42 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock graduate student, who is the reigning Miss Greater Little Rock, aims to advance her anti-bullying platform by sharing her personal story. By openly talking about her struggles, Brooke Cornelius hopes students see the long-term effects of bullying and take a stand against it. Cornelius has held several pageant titles, including Miss Central Arkansas, Miss Henderson State University, and Miss South Central Arkansas. As she prepares for the Miss Arkansas pageant June 13-17, she looks forward to attending the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law in the fall. “This year I really wanted to focus on my platform, ‘Protect Our Youth: Bullying is Not OK!’” she said. “Your platform is something that you choose to be an advocate for. When I started competing in pageants, I knew mine had to be bullying.” Because of her personal encounters, Cornelius can shine light on bullying from a different perspective, showing the power of words and how they can hurt. To help spread her message, Cornelius teams up with News Anchor Kevin Kelly from Fox 16 News as he shares his anti-bullying campaign, “Step Up Stop Bullying.” Together, they travel to schools in central Arkansas to encourage parents and teachers to take bullying seriously and to show students they’re not alone, and bullying can be stopped. At the core of her advocacy message, Cornelius assures victims it’s OK to speak up and voice concerns about their mistreatment with confidence. “It’s so important for students to tell an adult, a teacher, or someone that they trust about what is happening,” Cornelius said. “Not only will it be relieving to discuss the situation with an adult, but that adult will take preventative actions to put an end to the situation.” Cornelius knows the impact of not speaking up and its damaging results.

Heartbreak leads to health struggles

When she was 14 years old, Cornelius performed as one of the youngest girls on her cheerleading team. At 5 feet tall, she assumed the role of the flyer, being tossed in the air by her teammates. Cornelius was enjoying every bit of her cheering experience until she was hit with heartbreaking news. “I walked into practice, and my coach came up to me, and I could tell she was really flustered,” Cornelius said. “She told me that I couldn’t be the flyer anymore, and she was taking me out of the stunt. I was really confused because everything was going fine as far as I knew.” Returning to practice a couple days later, Cornelius was made aware that the girls who were lifting her complained she was fat and too heavy to be the flyer. “What they said had no truth, but I thought it did,” Cornelius said. Being a naive adolescent, Cornelius took the news hard. As a solution to what she believed was a problem, she began to starve herself. She eventually lost 25 pounds, forcing her into an unhealthy weight of 85 pounds. Throughout the remainder of her cheering years, Cornelius faced major health problems. Doctors told her she had anorexia nervosa. The condition caused her to lose most of her muscle and become severely dehydrated. It also forced her to stay in the hospital for weeks. “I was at high risk for a heart attack,” Cornelius said. “My heart was about half the size of my fist.” Not only could she feel the effects of under-eating, but she could see them just as well. “My hair was starting to break off in certain areas, and it became very brittle,” she said. “My eyes were sunken in the back of my head, and I learned that my body had eaten the pockets of fat behind my eyeballs.” In sharing the most alarming parts of her struggle following her experience with bullying, Cornelius seeks to bring awareness and hope to those in similar situations, showing them she walked in their shoes, and there’s a way to overcome. “I just recently visited a school in Hot Springs and a young girl ran up to me, hugged me, and began crying,” Cornelius said. “She looked at me and said, ‘Thank you.’ Although she didn’t tell me her story in any detail, I knew exactly what she was going through and I felt like I had accomplished my goal. It’s moments like these that I am thankful for and that I will remember for the rest of my life.” For more information on ways to prevent bullying, visit , or contact her at brookecornelius_12@yahoo.com.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock student finishes in 2018 Miss Arkansas Top 10

����Vlog��ý Little Rock students win scholarships in Miss Arkansas Pageant preliminaries

����Vlog��ý Little Rock student, Miss Greater Little Rock, promotes anti-bullying platform

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student finishes in 2018 Miss Arkansas Top 10

��Vlog��ý Little Rock students win scholarships in Miss Arkansas Pageant preliminaries

��Vlog��ý Little Rock student, Miss Greater Little Rock, promotes anti-bullying platform