Michigan’s Alma Cooper, a US Army officer, was named Miss USA on Sunday, becoming the third person to hold the title this year after the resignation of the 2023 winner.
The 22-year-old, with a Master’s in data science from Stanford University, beat 50 contestants. Kentucky’s Connor Perry and Oklahoma’s Danika Christopherson were first and second runners-up, respectively.
“As the daughter of a migrant worker, a proud Afro-Latina woman, and an Army officer, I am living the American dream,” Cooper said during the Q&A session. “Your circumstances never define your destiny: You can make success accessible through demanding excellence.”
Cooper was crowned by previous titleholder Savannah Gankiewicz of Hawaii, who took over in May after Utah’s Noelia Voigt stepped down amid controversy.
The event capped three months of turbulence for pageant organizers, marked by Voigt’s resignation and that of Miss Teen USA, Uma Sofia Srivastava. Gankiewicz called her three-month reign “the most unique in history.”
Voigt cited mental health reasons for her resignation on Instagram, though her post’s first letters spelled “I am silenced,” sparking rumors of a non-disclosure agreement. Her resignation letter, later obtained by CNN, alleged prize delays and a “toxic work environment” marked by poor management and harassment, including an incident of sexual harassment due to a lack of an “effective handler.”
