Catch up with Miss USU, Allie Berry
When Utah State senior Allie Berry decided to participate in the Miss USU Pageant last spring, she’d never even considered doing pageants before. Now, after winning the title, she can’t imagine her life any other way. This week, The Utah Statesman sat down with Berry to catch up on her time as Miss USU thus far — an experience she has called “irreplaceable.”
“I seriously wasn’t planning on it,” Berry said. “I ended up, you know, giving it a go, and I had an amazing experience.” Representing USU’s Student Alumni Association, she was crowned on April 8, and now, she’s using her public position to share her message of belonging and student involvement.
Each year, Miss USU is tasked with creating a campaign that embodies what the “spirit” of USU means to them.
“It’s a scholarship pageant, so this year, with spirit of USU, was focusing on how to make USU a better place,” said Tabitha Wagner, SAA executive assistant, who organized the 2025 event.
For Berry, that started with giving students a sense of belonging.
“You should feel loved and feel like you belong — because you do,” she said. Dubbed “Ask Miss USU,” her program focuses on getting the word out about events around campus.
Between weekly Instagram posts, direct message Q&As and appearances at events, she has spent the last semester trying to prove to students there is a place for everyone.
“My DMs are always open — my own personal Instagram account, Miss USU’s Instagram
account, the alumni Instagram account,” Berry said. “Seriously, if you have questions about anything — you’re wanting to know how you can be involved, you’re wanting to know what event is coming up, if you’re wanting to talk and you just need a friend — I am seriously always here.”
As a member of the SAA committee, the ideals of community and Aggie belonging aren’t new to Berry. The organization focuses on building bridges between current students and alumni, creating an Aggie family that spans generations and ensuring there is always a place for students to call home.
“I absolutely love it,” Berry said. “Seeing alumni come back and speak to us and tell us about their time at USU has made me appreciate mine more. I just feel more involved. I feel like I’m spending my time in a way that I’m going to remember.”
In addition to hosting alumni speeches, the committee plans events for the student body and is heavily involved in Homecoming and A-Week. As Miss USU, Allie Berry is grateful to bring awareness to SAA’s work, particularly regarding its support and organization of the Miss USU program. In fact, she considers her promotion of Miss USU to be her proudest accomplishment so far. Months of work go into the production of the large-scale event, and Berry is proud to shout-out everyone involved.
“The girls, the directors and everyone in the committee is putting in so much effort way beforehand,” Berry said. “I just want to emphasize how amazing it is and how much work is put into it.”
Featuring over a dozen girls, the annual pageant includes a choreographed group dance as well as interview portions for each contestant. SAA handles the planning, decorating and execution of the night.
Although Berry wishes to “savor every moment” of her time as Miss USU, she is thrilled to cheer on the new generation of Miss USU participants this spring. When asked if she had advice for girls wondering if it’s for them, she had an immediate answer: Go for it.
“If you have even a little bit of interest, just do it,” she said. “It’s seriously an awesome experience.”
It’s a sentiment Wagner agrees with.
“Most of the girls that apply always say that they’re trying to do something outside of their comfort zone and that they’ve never seen themselves ever wanting to do a pageant before, but it’s just a chance to go and showcase how much you love your USU community, which is just phenomenal,” Wagner said.
Berry has one final piece of advice for everyone at USU, future pageant participants and otherwise: “Know who you are and be you. The world already has a million other people, but there’s only one you.”