Alma Cooper was named the winner of the 73rd Miss USA pageant, which was held at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night. She was crowned by Savannah Gankiewicz, who assumed the title of Miss USA 2023 after Noelia Voigt resigned in May.
Cooper, 22, is a second lieutenant and military intelligence officer in the US Army.
According to her Miss USA bio, Cooper graduated in the top 5% of her class from West Point Military Academy and is a Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University, where she’s pursuing a master’s in data science.
Before taking the crown, Cooper competed in the evening gown, swimsuit, and interview rounds. The top five contestants all had to answer the same question: “How can we bridge the gap between different cultures and foster understanding and respect?”
“As the daughter of a migrant worker, a proud Afro-Latina woman, and an officer of the United States Army, I’m living the American dream,” Cooper responded. “If there’s anything that my life and my mother have taught me, it’s that your circumstances never define your destiny.”
During a video that played during her final walk, Cooper also revealed what winning the Miss USA title would mean to her.
“I would have the opportunity to show that if you can see me, you can be me,” she said. “I want to show that through demanding excellence, success is accessible.”
Cooper is taking over the title during a tumultuous time for Miss USA. The pageant made headlines in May after both Voigt and Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava gave up their crowns. Miss Colorado Ariana Lemus resigned that same week in solidarity.
Voigt and Srivastava haven’t publicly disclosed many details surrounding their resignations, citing nondisclosure agreements. But their mothers, Jackeline Voigt and Barbara Srivastava, told Business Insider during an interview in May that it was due to harassment they experienced under the leadership of Miss USA CEO Laylah Rose.
“Our daughters were happy and excited to have the job of their lives when they won those crowns,” Barbara Srivastava said. “And to expect this is the payment on their self-esteem and their confidence, being bullied by a 46-year-old woman who just wants to be in the limelight herself — this is unacceptable.”
“She said, ‘Mom, I have to do this because I cannot let her keep hurting me or hurting other girls,'” Jackeline Voigt recalled.
Multiple people who worked behind the scenes at Miss USA also walked away from the organization this year. Kimberly Nicewonder and Paula Miles — state pageant directors who had been with the Miss USA organization for over three decades — both blamed Rose’s leadership for their resignations. Rose did not respond to previous requests for comment.
Before her final walk as Miss USA 2023, Gankiewicz — who has spoken out in support of the organization and Rose — told the audience that she’d had “the most unique reign in history.”
It remains to be seen what the year will hold for the new Miss USA.
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