Michigan’s Alma Cooper, a US Army officer, was named Miss USA on Sunday, becoming the third person to hold the title this year following the shock resignation of 2023’s winner.
The 22-year-old, who has a Master’s in data science from Stanford University, beat 50 other contestants in a pageant that included swimwear and evening gown competitions. Kentucky’s Connor Perry and Oklahoma’s Danika Christopherson were named first and second runners-up, respectively.
As the daughter of a migrant worker, a proud Afro-Latina woman, and an officer of the United States Army, I am living the American dream,” she had told judges during a Q&A session at Sunday’s finale.
“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 was crowned on stage by previous titleholder, Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii, who inherited the tiara in May after Utah’s Noelia Voigt stepped down in highly controversial circumstances.
The glitzy televised event capped three months of turbulence for pageant organizers sparked by Voigt’s surprise resignation — and that of then-reigning Miss Teen USA, New Jersey’s UmaSofia Srivastava, just days later.
The show featured no explicit references to the controversy, though Gankiewicz described her unexpected three-month stint as Miss USA as “the most unique reign in history.”
