Miss America Organization announces new scholarship

VINCENT JACKSON Staff Writer 

The Miss America Competition, seen above in 2018, wasn’t just a televised tradition held at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall, but a convention or reunion for thousands of pageant fans and volunteers. Vernon Ogrodnek / For The Press

The Miss America Organization and the Miss America Foundation have announced a new scholarship to be awarded during the 2020 Miss America Competition.

The $3,000 Equity and Justice Scholarship will be awarded to the candidate who best exemplifies inclusion and acceptance of these principles in her social impact initiative, according to a news release from the Miss America Organization.

"The Miss America Foundation is pleased to offer this scholarship, which represents such important issues this generation of young women will have to address as they finish their educations and move into their careers," Greg Petroff, Miss America Foundation board of trustees chairman, said in a statement.

The donor wishes to remain anonymous, but the scholarship will be awarded through a family trust, according to the release. As a young woman who wanted to compete in a local pageant during the 1980s, the donor was discouraged by her parents because they believed "Miss America does not look like us, and an educated woman does not parade around in a swimsuit," according to the release.

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