Madison Marsh, an active-duty Air Force officer, crowned Miss America
Author of the article:Washington Post
Washington Post
Jennifer Hassan
Published Jan 15, 2024 • 2 minute read
A second lieutenant in the Air Force is swapping her helmet for a crown after winning the title of Miss America 2024.
Madison Marsh prevailed Sunday as Colorado’s representative, becoming the first active-duty Air Force officer to win the pageant, according to the Miss Colorado website.
“Congratulations to our very own Airman,” the Air Force tweeted as Marsh won the event.
Her Miss Colorado biography is not typical of a pageant contender: “In her free time, Madison enjoys flying planes, cooking pasta, and reading,” it says.
Fifty-one contestants – from each state and Washington, D.C. – competed for the 2024 crown, a title the pageant calls “a 365-day opportunity,” with “community service” at its center.
“When I put on my uniform, I serve, and I represent our country,” Marsh told the Harvard Crimson student newspaper ahead of Sunday’s finale. “When I put on the crown and sash, I’m serving, representing my community.”
Marsh told the newspaper that she hopes her story “can tell the young girls that you don’t have to play a conventional role.”
The Air Force Academy championed Marsh throughout the competition, sharing a photo of her standing alongside a plane in her uniform to its Instagram account, with a caption that read, “from the flight line to the spotlight.”
During the competition, Marsh said she hoped to “break stereotypes about women in pageants and the military,” while making “friends that will last a lifetime.”
Marsh, who was crowned Miss Colorado in 2023, is an Arkansas native and holds a degree in physics from the Air Force Academy. She is studying public policy at Harvard Kennedy School, according to her competition profile.
After the death of her mother in 2018, Marsh helped set up a charitable foundation to fund research into pancreatic cancer and help care for patients. To date, more than a quarter-million dollars has been raised, according to the Miss Colorado website.
As Miss America, Marsh will be offered a scholarship award of $60,000 and the opportunity to travel the nation as the brand’s ambassador, according its website.
On social media, many professed admiration for Marsh, calling her “an awesome role model,” “impressive” and “smart.”
Colorado Springs Mayor Yemi Mobolade was among those hailing Marsh’s win. “You have inspired countless young girls to dream big and reach for the stars,” he tweeted Sunday.
Miss America says its brand mission is “Empowering Women to Lead,” though the event, which is more than 100 years old, has been marred by infighting, litigation, a damaging email scandal and slow-burning financial challenges, The Washington Post reported in 2021.
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28K likes, 350 comments - missamericaJanuary 14, 2024 on : "Miss America is Madison Marsh from Colorado! #ThereSheIs 📸: @houstonmphotography".
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20K likes, 242 comments - missamericaJanuary 14, 2024 on : "#ThereSheIs: Miss America 2024 ⭐️".
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Madison Marsh prevailed Sunday as Colorado's representative, becoming the first active-duty Air Force officer to win the pageant
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