The Peacock Theater in Los Angeles hosted the 73rd Miss USA contest on Sunday night, and Alma Cooper was declared the winner. Savannah Gankiewicz, who took over as Miss USA 2023 following Noelia Voigt’s resignation in May, won the title.
Cooper, 22, is a military intelligence officer in the United States Army and a second lieutenant.
Cooper is a Knight-Hennessy Scholar at Stanford University, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in data science. Her Miss USA bio states that she graduated from West Point Military Academy in the top 5% of her class.
Cooper participated in the evening gown, swimsuit, and interview rounds prior to winning the title. The same question, “How can we bridge the gap between different cultures and foster understanding and respect?” was posed to the top five competitors.
“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,” replied Cooper. “If there’s anything that my life and my mother have taught me, it’s that your circumstances never define your destiny.”
Cooper also shared her thoughts on what it would mean to her to win the Miss USA title in a video that aired during her final walk.
“I would have the opportunity to show that if you can see me, you can be me,” she stated. “I want to show that through demanding excellence, success is accessible.”
Cooper is assuming the title at a turbulent moment in Miss USA’s history. In May, the pageant gained media attention when Voigt and Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava relinquished their titles. In a show of unity, Miss Colorado Ariana Lemus quit the same week.
Citing nondisclosure agreements, Voigt and Srivastava haven’t made many specifics of their resignations available to the public. However, in a May interview, their moms, Jackeline Voigt and Barbara Srivastava, stated that it was because of the mistreatment they endured at the hands 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 remarked. “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.”
Jackeline Voigt recounted, “She said, ‘Mom, I have to do this because I cannot let her keep hurting me or other girls.'”
Alma Cooper and Gankiewicz, Savannah
This year, a number of the Miss USA organization’s backstage staff members also left. Both Paula Miles and Kimberly Nicewonder, state pageant directors who had worked for Miss USA for more than thirty years, resigned, blaming Rose’s leadership for their actions. Prior attempts to reach Rose for comment were met with silence.
Gankiewicz, who has advocated for the organization and Rose, addressed the crowd before to her farewell walk as Miss USA 2023 that she has experienced “the most unique reign in history.”
What the upcoming year holds for the new Miss USA is still to be determined.