London Resident Emily Cox Excited to Represent Lindsey Wilson University at Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival
COLUMBIA, Ky. (05/20/2026) — Lindsey Wilson University student Emily Cox has enjoyed the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival as a spectator, and this year she will get to experience it on a special level.
Cox will represent Lindsey Wilson this weekend at the 95th edition of the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival. The festival, which will be held May 21-24 in Pineville, is the second-
oldest Kentucky festival after the Kentucky Derby.
The festival's highlight is the queen's coronation, which will be held Saturday, May 23, at Laurel Cove Amphitheater in Pine Mountain State Resort Park, Kentucky's oldest state park. The queen, who is selected from among representatives from Kentucky's colleges and universities, is crowned with a garland made from the region's native mountain laurel, which blossoms each May.
Cox, who is a resident of nearby London, attended the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival a couple times to cheer for high school friends who were princess candidates.
"It's going to be a crazy experience to be in the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival because its tradition runs so deep," said Cox, who is a 2023 South Laurel High School graduate and the daughter of Todd and Rhianna Cox.
Cox said the festival also means a lot to her family, who is originally from Harlan County. Both of her grandmothers have followed the festival over the years, and one of her great-aunts was a queen candidate when she was a college student.
Cox said she has received valuable advice from Lindsey Wilson alumnae who have been crowned Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival queen.
"They have reached out to me and told me that they made lifelong friendships, and they also enjoy coming back to the festival because Pineville is a town that makes everybody feel special," she said. "I'm just really excited to make friends and be a part of a tradition that means so much to so many people."
A big year
Representing Lindsey Wilson in the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival will cap off what's been a very eventful 2025-26 school year for Cox. In the fall, she was elected Lindsey Wilson homecoming queen, and in the spring she helped lead the Blue Raider women's basketball team to the Round of 16 of the NAIA national tournament.
And on May 2, she graduated from Lindsey Wilson a year early with a bachelor's degree in political science, summa cum laude. She will return to LWU in the fall as a graduate student in business and to play a fourth year of basketball.
"It means a lot to me to represent Lindsey Wilson," said Cox, whose escort will be Luke Popplewell '29 of Russell Springs, Kentucky. "I love everything about Lindsey, and Lindsey has been an amazing place. It's going to be a great opportunity to represent our school and show that we are a great university."
Pictured: Lindsey Wilson University student Emily Cox of London, Kentucky, will represent the school at the 95th Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival, which will be held May 21-24 in Pineville.
More:
- Click here to learn more about campus life at Lindsey Wilson University.
- Click here to learn more about clubs and organizations.
- Click here to learn more about civic engagement.
- Click here for LWU's academic majors and programs.
- Click here to apply to LWU.
- Click here to return to LWU's homepage.