30, 2017 photo contestants attend a welcoming ceremony for the Miss America competition on the Atlantic City, N.J., Boardwalk. On Thursday, May 17, 2018, the Miss America Organization announced it has installed women in the organization's three top leadership posts following an email scandal last winter involving male leaders.

  • She succeeds Miss America 2017, Savvy Shields, former Miss Arkansas, and will receive a $50,000 scholarship for her win, a six-figure salary and an appearance contract with Dick Clark Productions.
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By Alison Durkee

On Sunday night, women from around the country will compete to become Miss USA 2017, succeeding 2016 winner and Army Reserve officer Deshauna Barber.

The 2017 ceremony features contestants from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, who will compete for the coveted title at the Mandalay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. Competitors who make it through the preliminary rounds will vie for the title by competing in the swimwear, evening gown, final question and final look presentations.

Though the pageant, which is part of the Miss Universe Organization, was formerly owned by President Donald Trump, he sold the organization in 2015 to WME/IMG. Sunday's pageant will be televised at 8 p.m. Eastern time on Fox.

Here are six of the female contestants who are favored to become this year's Miss USA:

Miss Alaska: Alyssa London

London is a member of the Alaskan Native Tlingit tribe and a Stanford University graduate with a passion for promoting her and others' cultural identities. The 27-year-old founded Our Culture Story in 2014, a storytelling platform that promotes the stories of Alaskan Native cultures, and has traveled throughout the state to encourage women and children to embrace their own heritage.

Miss Texas: Nancy Gonzalez

Along with Miss Florida Linette De Los Santos, Gonzalez is one of two Hispanic women competing for Miss USA. The Texas native, whose parents are from Mexico, is an advocate for women who are victims of domestic abuse, having been in an abusive relationship at the age of 18. Gonzalez earned a degree in supply chain and logistics from the University of Houston, becoming the first person in her family to earn a college degree, and she aspires toward owning her own business one day.

Miss South Carolina: Megan Gordon

Gordon, who hails from North Augusta, South Carolina, is a nursing major at Armstrong State University with a specialization in pediatric nursing. The 23-year-old is a particular advocate for children with cancer and blood disorders, and she has volunteered with Safe Kids, Light the Night and the Ronald McDonald House. She was also named Miss Collegiate America 2014, Miss Southeast and Distinguished Young Woman of South Carolina.

Miss Nevada: Lauren York

York is a 23-year-old from North Las Vegas whose modeling work has included campaigns for Guess and Monster Energy. After being the victim of a drunk driving accident, York became a victim impact speaker and advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. She hopes using her pageant platform to share her story will raise awareness of the dangers of driving while under the influence.

Miss California: India Williams

Williams is a student at Loyola Marymount University studying business entrepreneurship and aspires to earn a law degree focused on intellectual property rights. The 20-year-old is an avid volunteer whose resume includes work with Mixed Marrow, a nonprofit aimed at encouraging more mixed-race bone marrow and blood donors; mentoring middle school students at the Incubator School; and working with the Samburu Project to provide communities in Kenya with clean drinking water. She is also a model and appeared on cycle 22 of America's Next Top Model.

Miss North Carolina: Katie Coble

Coble is a 27-year-old model who was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. She earned a degree in business from the University of Alabama, and her past pageant successes include becoming the second runner-up in Miss Teen USA 2007. Coble credits modeling with helping her overcome her shyness and teaching her to persevere and 'have a thick skin.' She is also the cousin of actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — The Miss America Organization is putting women in its three top leadership positions following an email scandal in which male officials were caught making vulgar and insulting comments about past winners of the beauty pageant.

The organization told The Associated Press Thursday it is appointing Regina Hopper as president and CEO of the Miss America Organization, and Marjorie Vincent-Tripp as chairwoman of the board of the Miss America Foundation.

Coupled with Gretchen Carlson leading the Miss America Organization’s board of trustees, the group is moving on from the email scandal with women firmly in charge.

“By putting female leadership in place, we hope to send a strong signal.” Hopper told the AP. “We want young women to see Miss America as a place where they can come and benefit and be empowered.”

Hopper, a former Miss Arkansas, attorney and TV journalist, replaces Sam Haskell, whose emails about the intellect, appearance and sex lives of former Miss Americas led to his departure and a revamping of the group’s top leadership in December. She is a former correspondent for CBS News, where she won an Emmy for her work on the show “48 Hours.”

The scandal began when the Huffington Post published leaked emails showing pageant officials ridiculing past Miss Americas, including crass and sometimes vulgar comments about them. The emails included one that used a vulgar term for female genitalia to refer to past Miss America winners, one that wished that a particular former Miss America had died and others that speculated about how many sex partners one former Miss America has had.

Haskell declined to comment on the new leadership.

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Vincent-Tripp, who was Miss America 1991, formerly served on the Miss America Board of Trustees. She is an assistant attorney general in Florida, and formerly worked as a TV journalist. As chair of the Miss America Foundation, she is responsible for educating the public about the foundation’s values and building public support.

Vincent-Tripp replaces Lanny Griffith, who along with MAO chair Lynn Weidner stepped down during the transition.

Carlson, Miss America 1989, was named chairwoman of the Miss America board in January after the email scandal rocked the organization. Her sexual harassment lawsuit against Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes led to his departure.

Hopper said she hopes young women will realize that Miss America is now being led by women who have been through the program and have been helped by it, and that they will seek the same benefits from it.

Larry Hoffer, a volunteer at local and state pageants, said he is eager to see what the new leaders’ vision will be and expects the women will leave the organization stronger.

America

“I think it’s an excellent, excellent move,” Hoffer said. “For a pageant that is strictly about empowering women to have not had female leadership for all of these years just never seemed to work. You basically had men deciding how women should be treated and featured on the telecast and how Miss America should be portrayed in the media. Having these women lead such a major scholarship organization shows that women are being taken seriously.”

Jill Cook, a local pageant volunteer, said she saw the new appointments as “a step forward” for Miss America. She applauded the women’s pedigrees and their success both in the pageant world and beyond.

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Associated Press writer Alexandra Villarreal in Philadelphia contributed to this story.

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