Historic Miss America sidesteps controversy

In news, you might have missed, 22-year old Madison Marsh — a second lieutenant in the Air Force and master’s student at the Harvard Kennedy School’s public policy program — was crowned Miss America in Orlando, Florida.

Marsh, representing the state of Colorado, is the first active-duty Air Force officer ever to receive the national title. Southerner by birth, born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, Marsh graduated from the United States Air Force Academy with a degree in physics focusing on astronomy.

Upon her victory, March paid tribute to her late mother, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2018.

Shortly after her mother’s death, Marsh founded The Whitney Marsh Foundation, which raises money for pancreatic cancer research, awareness, early detection, and patient care.

This is her platform. Since their inception as part of the pageant apparatus in 1989, platforms have been one of the most scrutinized aspects of the contest. While the majority of Miss Americas have served largely controversy-free reigns, there have been a few who managed to garner the ire of certain segments of the country.

One such former winner was Kira

Kazantsev, Miss America 2015. Kazantsev worked at a planned parenthood as an intern, and drew considerable outrage among conservative viewers.

Organizations such as the National Right To Life (arguably the direct antitheses to Planned Parenthood) wasted no time going after Kazantsev, while a number of conservative websites levied attacks against her character and what they perceived as her lack of moral values.