Both stunning and stylish, Miss North Carolina A&T State University 2008-2009, Tanisha Shavone Fordham, wowed the crowd and won over the hearts of the judges at the Miss NBCA Hall of Fame Queens Competition, recently held in Atlanta, Ga.

The 22nd Annual NBCA Hall of Fame Queens Competition is a national scholarship pageant held annually to highlight talent, personality and intellect of college queens from among America's historically black colleges and universities.

"As pageant advisor to Miss A&T, I witnessed a very confident and creative queen from the day she was elected by her peers. Throughout the course of her preparation for Atlanta, I dubbed her 'Royal Creativity.' She is also known as a great communicator . In addition, Tanisha is very spiritual and firmly rooted in strong family values," said Dr. Judy Rashid, dean of students at A&T.

Fordham, a journalism major at N.C. A&T State University performed a monologue for the talent segment. She beat out 25 other talented queens from across the country in the competition and her outgoing personality and charm helped snatch the crown.

A native of New York., Fordham is known around campus for having a "passion for people."

The A&T senior is a graduate of The Buffalo Academy of the Sacred Heart, Buffalo, N.Y. She is the recipient of several awards including the N.C. A&T Journalism Department Most Contributed to the Department Award (May 2008); The Richard B. Harrison Players Award - Most Talented Chorus Member (May 2008) and, the Afro American Historical Association of the Niagara Frontier - Young Community Leader Award (August 2008). She is currently a member of the Richard B. Harrison Players theatre company on campus.

As a member of the Student Government Association, currently serving as Miss A&T, she is involved in numerous campus activities. Outside of her Miss A&T responsibilities, she still finds time to be involved in programs including serving as founder and president of Enlightened Visions, Inc.; editor, photographer and columnist for the En.Vi. Monthly Magazine; talk show host at WNAA 90.1 FM; writer for The A&T Register; and talk show host for the public access Channel 8.

In her free time, Fordham also enjoys volunteering at Guilford Child Development Center at Shiloh Baptist Church's nursery.