MISS USA
Who is Alma Cooper, Miss USA 2024? Career, age, family…
Miss Michigan has been named the new Miss USA 2024, only three months after Savannah Gankiewicz took the crown in controversial circumstances.
Alma Cooper has been crowned Miss USA 2024, winning the top prize at the 73rd edition of the contest at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday, August 4.
Miss Michigan came out on top ahead of Miss Kentucky Connor Perry and Miss Oklahoma Danika Christopherson. Cooper will now represent the United States at the 2024 Miss Universe pageant, which be held in Mexico in November.
Miss USA 2024 Alma Cooper living the ‘American dream’
Cooper’s official Miss USA profile states she graduated in the top 5% of her class from Westpoint, which gave her the chance to study a Masters in Data Science at Stanford University as a Knight Hennessy Scholar, which she is currently doing. It also led to her serving as a 2nd lieutenant and Military Intelligence Officer in the US Army.
During Sunday’s event, the 22-year-old revealed more details about her family background in answering a question she was set: “As the daughter of a migrant worker, a proud Afro-Latina woman, and an officer in the United States army, I am living the American dream”.
In that sense, Cooper is following in the footsteps of her parents’ own ‘American dream,’ which her Miss USA profile says inspired her life motto, “Demand Excellence”.
As the newly crowned Miss USA, the Michigan native says her “ultimate goal is to make healthy foods available to all people,” with “addressing food insecurity” in the United States and worldwide one of her passions.
Recent Miss USA controversies
Cooper takes over as Miss USA from Savannah Gankiewicz, who was named Miss Hawaii 2023. However, Gankiewicz only took the crown three months ago after former Miss USA Noelia Voigt resigned, stating the role had had a negative effect on her mental health.
Voigt later claimed her allegations of sexual harassment at a Miss USA Christmas event had been ignored and that “there is a toxic work environment within the Miss USA organization that, at best, is poor management and, at worst, is bullying and harassment”.
Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava also stepped down, revealing in a statement her “personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.”