William & Mary junior Rosemary Willis will vie for the coveted title of Miss America on Saturday night.
Willis will represent Virginia in the competition, taking place at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas and airing live at 9 p.m. on ABC.
Willis, a Chesapeake native, was crowned Miss Virginia last July. She has taken a year off from her studies in government and kinesiology to fulfill her duties, which entail traveling across the state to promote her platform, “Get Moving Today for a Healthier Tomorrow.” She visited the W&M campus in August 2012 to talk about healthy living with her fellow Tribe members.
On campus, Willis has taught exercise classes at the Student Recreation Center and performed as a member of The Accidentals, an a capella group. She took the top honor in the preliminary talent competition at Miss Virginia for her rendition of Ben E. King’s “I Who Have Nothing.”
The first Miss America pageant in 1921 was in Atlantic City, where Chamber of Commerce President Frederick Hickman defined the type of woman who would hold the title: “Miss America represents the highest ideals. She is a real combination of beauty, grace and intelligence, artistic and refined. She is a type which the American Girl might well emulate.”
Three previous Miss Virginia winners have won the title of Miss America: Kylene Barker in 1979, Nicole Johnson in 1999 and Caressa Cameron in 2010. Follow Willis’ Miss America experience on Facebook and Twitter.
