WATERLOO -

Evette Fantroy didn't have to walk acro

ss a stage and accept a crown to be recognized in her community. She was already very much a part of it through her family, church and community involvement and at graduate school at the University of Northern Iowa.

And she never figured she would compete in a pageant, either.

"I was very skeptical, because I'm not a pageant girl," Fantroy said. "I just never was into that kind of stuff."

But after being persuaded by her pastor, the Rev. Belinda Creighton-Smith of Faith Temple Baptist Church, Fantroy decided to try out for the nonprofit Miss Black Iowa USA competition Nov. 3, 2007, in Des Moines. She did it, she said, because it reinforced her own beliefs.

"It's not like your typical pageant. … I want to squash that stereotype of a pageant," she said. "This showcases African-American women based on their character, their intelligence, their community efforts. It's not all about glitz and glamour."

Fantroy, 22, competed against six other delegates from around Iowa in categories like a personal interview, fitness, evening gown and a talent portion. That night, she took home the title of Miss Black Iowa USA 2008, and will go on to the Miss Black USA pageant in Las Vegas in June, competing against representatives from 38 states.

"It was so awesome to be able to interact with other African-American women who were in that path of accomplishing their goals," Fantroy said.

Debra Carr, who is on the Miss Black USA national board of advisers and who founded the Miss Black Iowa USA competition in 1987, similarly was excited to see only the second Waterloo native achieve the title of Miss Black Iowa USA.

"Just being a native of Waterloo myself, seeing these types of opportunities that these young ladies had to help them further their education - we didn't have many opportunities in our area to do that (before)," Carr said. "That just really made me proud."

Fantroy's platform started

long before she joined the pageant. On her Web site,

www.fantroy.net, she explains the initiative will be a mentoring program for black girls in grades six through 12 in Waterloo. She hopes to have the program up and running by the end of August.

"I know what it's like to be a teenage girl - having all the pressures, having low self-esteem, not liking the way I looked on the outside - and I wanted to help those kids, let them know it's OK, you are beautiful," Fantroy said. "It's very cliched, but it's based on developing the character within."

An honors graduate of West High School, Fantroy has a bachelor's degree in psychology from UNI and plans to have her master's in industrial and organizational psychology at UNI by this May. Her goal is to work in diversity recruitment for John Deere. In addition, Fantroy also plans to strive for a divinity degree with the goal of becoming an ordained minister.

She's got a lot on her plate, but Fantroy is not afraid to work hard for what she wants. That's exactly why she is representing Iowa, said Carr.

"This is incredibly important when we talk about the impact, especially on young females and females of color," Carr said. "All young girls, when they see this individual they can touch and talk to, it means so much to them."

For Fantroy, it is about being the role model no one expected.

"People are not expecting me to be in college, to be in grad school, to succeed," she said. "Being Miss Black Iowa allows me to be a role model and an example; yes, I'm smart enough, yes, I will apply myself and yes, I will succeed."

Contact Amie Steffen at (319) 291-1464 or amie.steffen@wcfcourier.com.