With the 2016-2017 academic year upon us, we’ve been taking some time to reflect on the important events that have made University history.
This past February we witnessed Justus Coleman receive the Miss IU crown, the second African-American woman to do so.
While a junior at the time of her accomplishment, she studied community health. She aspired to create strong and empowering bonds between women of all cultures. This goal was at the heart of her pageant platform. Coleman is excited to leverage her time as Miss IU as a role model for young women.
Her plans for the summer included competing in the Miss Indiana Pageant. Unfortunately, she did not place. She heads back to school this fall with hopes of working to attain her Masters in nonprofit management after receiving her undergraduate degree.
Coleman’s accomplishment of being crowned Miss IU as a black woman is preceded by Nancy Streets-Lyons. Nancy was the first African-American woman to win the title of Miss IU back in 1959.
Native to South Bend, Streets came to Indiana University as a freshman and lived amidst a segregated community of students. She was studying speech and theater and was entered into the pageant on behalf of her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha. Her crown would bring about mixed feelings of excitement and hostility from alumni and students all across the globe.
It would be years before efforts toward ending discrimination would prevail and decades before Nancy Streets would be rightfully honored by university that initially crowned her.
Today, she resides in Indianapolis and cares for two elderly individuals during the week. She worked as a teacher for a few years and even fought through cancer. At 76 years young, she’s still as charming as the day she was crowned and lets her humor decorate every conversation.
Nancy Streets and Justus Coleman recently came together for an interview on a local talk show that honored both their accomplishments and to reflect on the years of struggle the black community has faced and overcome.
For the Glory of Old IU,
Katherine Lopez
Indiana University, 2017
Journalism, Media Scholar
IUAA Student Fellow, Diversity Programs