Spelman College made history by crowning two queens at its annual Miss Spelman College Pageant, sparking online debate over the school’s selection process for winners.
The historically Black women’s liberal arts college drew widespread reaction online after juniors Jillian Collier and Kinsley Wilson were both announced as winners and will share the title of Co-Miss Spelman for the 2026-27 academic year after a scoring miscalculation, according to UATL, a brand of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In its 43-year history, Miss Spelman has welcomed two queens for the first time. However, the HBCU community and online users are questioning how the school made this decision.
On Friday, Spelman shared a Facebook post announcing Collier and Wilson as the co-winners, along with the other women in the court.
“We are overjoyed to announce we are crowning Co-Miss Spelmans for the 2026-2027 academic year! These two phenomenal scholars embody the grace of our heritage and the undaunted spirit of our future. Throughout the year, these queens will serve side-by-side, representing the Blue & White with excellence and distinction,” the school said in the statement.
“Please join us in showering our Co-Queens and the entire 2026 Court with love and congratulations!”
The controversy began after Wilson was declared the sole winner on April 11. Nearly a week later, the school announced a miscount on April 17 in a social media post, declaring Collier as co-queen, per UATL.
“Following a comprehensive review of the 2026 Miss Spelman Pageant, the College identified a technical discrepancy in the initial scoring results,” Spelman said in the statement.
It continued, “In a decision that reflects our commitment to equity and the exceptional caliber of our students, Spelman College has named Co-Miss Spelmans for the 2026-2027 academic year. This move ensures that the hard work and excellence of these scholars are acknowledged and fully celebrated.”
The situation circulated on social media, with many users calling out Spelman for the discrepancy and for not being more transparent about the process.
Comedian Mel Mitchell shared an Instagram post about the annual event, stating that the outcome would have been much different had she been part of it and if her mother had intervened.
“If I would’ve won a crown and they told me that I got to share it, my momma would have turned that school upside down,” Mitchell said. “Fix it. What’s going on with the children? I love Spelman pageant season. I live for this, but what’s going on down at the Spelman?”
In the comment section, users shared their thoughts on the situation and how Spelman should have handled it differently.
‘What they should have done was tell the girl that did not mathematically win that that she has to turn over the crown they should have called a big old press conference let her give a speech about fairness and Sisterhood and crowning and congratulating the real Miss Spelman,” one user said.
“On my momma would’ve written a nasty 40 page email and then would’ve physically removed the eternal flame overnight,” another wrote.
“Who want’s a crown they didn’t win? That’s what’s crazy to me,” a third user said.
TikToker @JasminaHinton criticized Spelman for the serious miscalculation that resulted in crowning co-queens and adding more women to the pageant court.
“My heart goes out to every single one of those girls, especially the girls that were robbed that night,” Jasmine said. “You only get that moment once and they should have had it, and they didn’t get to have it because of a miscalculation.”
@jasminahinton This is the craziest thing I've seen at Spelman, fix it . #jasminahinton #spelmancollege #missspelman #spelman #morehouse ♬ original sound – Jasmina
Miss Spelman Pageant is an annual event and one of the most popular at the prestigious institution. Seven contestants competing for the crown are scored on “a prepageant interview, performance and artistic expression, a question-and-answer portion, presentation and community achievement, and overall composite score,” UATL reported.
According to one former Miss Spelman, this is not the first time the school has had issues with the event. “This has happened before and I would know because I was also originally named a 1st runner (up) in 2006,” she said in an Instagram post shared by HBCUPulse.
In 2006, Terricha Phillips was initially crowned Miss Spelman, but after a series of events she described as “traumatizing,” she was demoted to third runner-up, while Ashley Moss was awarded the crown, per UATL.
Phillips discussed her experience and stated that Spelman should provide students with full transparency about the process moving forward.
“Because there is a history of this, there has to be full transparency, even if moving forward, they show how it is broken down between all the candidates,” Phillips told UATL.
