Miss Illinois Crowned Miss America
Newsmax Wires
Monday, Sept. 2, 2002
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. -- Billed as the largest competitive scholarship
program for young women in the world, Saturday's Miss America
pageant in Atlantic City crowned Miss Illinois, but everyone was a winner
taking home at least $5,000 in scholarship money.
The crown, the job and at least $50,000 in scholarships went to Miss
Illinois Erika Harold, 22, of Urbana, Ill., who graduated from the
University of Illinois, Phi Beta Kappa. She was a University of Illinois
Chancellor Scholar, a Truman Scholarship finalist and USA Today's
All-USA College Academic Second Team.
Harold had been accepted this fall to Harvard University's Law School to
pursue a career in the fields of Public Interest Law and Public Policy but
she put law school on hold to compete in the pageant. Her platform
issue was Empowering Youth Against Violence.
While in college Harold submitted written testimony to the U.S. House of
Representatives' Energy & Commerce Committee on Welfare Reform
Reauthorization Proposals. She was also the recipient of first prize in an
Afro-American Studies research paper competition and represented high
school in Japan as part of the JALEX Study Program.
While at the University of Illinois, Harold worked as a teaching assistant;
motivational speaker and public relations coordinator; as well as
television intern.
She sang an aria from Bizet's "Carmen," and was a favorite among the
other contestants who were able to vote in the official competition voting.
Several contestants told co-host Julie Moran of "Entertainment Tonight,"
who served as backstage host and questioned the contestants about
their thoughts on the five finalists' chances, that they were planning to
vote for Harold.
The voting of the 46 contestants who did not make the finals counted as
10 percent of the official judging.
Her father, Robert Harold, is of Greek, German and Russian descent
and is owner of a satellite installation company. Her mother, Donna
Tanner-Harold, of Native American and African-American descent, is a
college counselor and foster parent trainer.
She has three siblings: Alexandra, 20, Anastasia, 17, and Nichola