Miss Michigan Alma Cooper won the 73rd Miss USA pageant held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday night. She beat 50 other contestants in the two-hour, nationally televised competition.
She was crowned by Savannah Gankiewicz, who took over the title of Miss USA after Noelia Voigt resigned in May.
Cooper, who is 22 years old, is a second lieutenant and a military intelligence officer in the US Army.
Cooper, 22, was crowned Miss USA 2024 in Los Angeles on Sunday evening
According to her Miss USA bio, Cooper graduated in the top 5% of her class from West Point Military Academy, and she is currently a Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University, pursuing a master's degree in data science.
Alma Cooper of Michigan, was named Miss USA on Aug. 4, 2024. The 22-year-old second lieutenant and recent graduate of West Point is pursuing a masters degree at Stanford. (West Point AOG/X)
In April, Cooper became the first active-duty Army officer to compete in and win the Miss Michigan USA competition.
Each contestant was asked: “How can we bridge the gap between different cultures and foster understanding and respect?”
Cooper highlighted her ethnicity, saying she’s a “proud Afro Latina woman,” and humble beginnings as the daughter of a migrant worker. “I am living the American dream,” she told the judges. “If there’s anything that my life and my mother have taught me, it’s that your circumstances never define your destiny. You can make success accessible through demanding excellence.”
Cooper will compete in the Miss Universe contest in Mexico later this year. The first member of the military to win the Miss USA crown was then-1st Lt. Deshauna Barber, an Army reservist who won in 2016, according to the service.
Read more at: https://www.stripes.com/branches/army/2024-08-05/army-officer-crowned-miss-usa-14747247.html
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