In front of a packed house in the CAC Theater on Wichita State University’s Campus, Tiana Hardwell was crowned Miss Juneteenth ICT Thursday night. Hardwell won out over a field of six other star-quality contestants.
It was the scholarship opportunities and the chance to expand her social impact initiative that drew 16-year-old Tiana Hardwell to compete for Miss Juneteenth ICT for a second time.
“If I become Miss Juneteenth ICT, I hope to accomplish more title visibility. I want to expand the brand by being in my community, going to events, speaking on panels and reaching out to Wichita teens,” Tiana says.
She enjoys sports, plays basketball and runs track and hopes to some day attend an HBCU, and earn a degree in communications.
Tiana attends Wichita Southeast High School. Her parents are Ti’Juana Hardwell and Maurice Howard.
Hardwell was crowned by Miss Juneteenth ICT 2023 Dorothy Arnold.
Other Pageant Winners
Deena Holmes, Miss Dockum Sit-in (1st runner-up) Deena, 16, is a student at The Independent School. She, is the daughter of Dominica Galloway & Alvin Holmes.
Kimora Potter, Miss Northeast Wichita (2nd runner up) Kimora, 16, daughter of Felicia Lewis and Shawn Potter.
Jewell Moore, Miss People’s Choice During the pageant, individuals in attendance were able to vote for the winner of this award by placing money in the contestant’s jar. The person with the most money was the winner of this award and received all of the money in their jar. The remaining contestants received 50% of the money in their jar with the rest donated to a local charity. Moore, 17, is a student at Northeast Magnet.
Other contestants were
Ke’Aasia Dickens, 17, who will be a freshman at Coffeyville Community College in the fall.
Ta’Lyiah Lewis, 15, is a student at Northwest High School and the daughter of Chandra Lewis.
Tamya Gipson, 18, the daughter of Fiorella Dozier.
In addition to taking home the Miss Juneteenth title, Hardwell was also the winner of the essay contest and was voted by the contestants as Miss Congeniality.
Felecia Rolfe, a new member of the pageant committee, received the Black Girls Rock Award, for her commitment to supporting and empowering Black girls and women. This is a new award for the pageant that they plan to make an annual award.
Braxton Jones served as the event’s master of ceremonies.
In attendance at the event were contestants from the Miss Kansas pageant, which was held earlier this month in Pratt Kansas. Alexis Smith, an African-American female was named Miss Kansas. Three other Black women were in the pageant’s top five. Those three attended the Miss Juneteenth ICT pageant and were brought on stage and honored by theaudience.
Miss Juneteenth and her court will be on hand for the Juneteenth festivities this weekend in McAdams Park and will be featured in the Juneteenth ICT parade.
