Senior scholar named queen of the Kentucky Derby Festival
Derby Queen Trisha Maclin and Derek Vaughn
Maclin of Marion, Ky., is active in College Republicans, student government, the university's "Dance Marathon" for Kosair Charities and Chi Omega sorority.
Other members of the Derby Royal Court are Caitlin Carter, of Big Spring, a junior majoring in agriculture and mass communications at Western Kentucky University; Katie Huber, of Glasgow, a student at UofL School of Medicine; Laura Don Oliver, of Princeton, a senior majoring in chemistry at UofL; and Lauren Smith, of Lexington, a senior majoring in political science and economics at the University of Kentucky.
Members of the Royal Court were selected from more than 100 women who applied last fall. They have represented the Derby Festival at a variety of local events since selection in January.
Criteria for selection included knowledge of the Derby Festival, poise, intelligence, personality and campus and community involvement. Each woman receives two $1,000 scholarships — one from The Fillies Inc. and one from the Kentucky Derby Festival Foundation — and a wardrobe from Fashion Bug and Regiss Bridal & Prom.
Past Derby Festival Queens include Martha Layne Collins, Kentucky's first female governor, and Gail Gorski, the first female pilot for United Airlines, and a number of other community leaders.