DC scientist nukes rivals to win Miss USA crown
Print Edition
KARA McCullough, a scientist working for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has been crowned Miss USA.
McCullough, who represented the District of Columbia in the decades-old pageant, was born in Naples, Italy, and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She said she wants to inspire children to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
“I love science,” McCullough said after the Sunday event in Las Vegas. “I look at this as a great opportunity to ... get to experience worldwide culture, as well as just having the opportunity to be impacted by so many children, hopefully in the math and sciences.”
McCullough bested 50 other contestants and will represent the United States at the Miss Universe contest. This was the second year in a row that the representative of the US capital won the Miss USA title. Last year, DC resident Deshauna Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA.
Miss New Jersey Chhavi Verg, a Rutgers University student, was the runner-up.
Verg was one of five women participating in the pageant who immigrated to the US with their families at a young age. Verg and the women representing Florida, North Dakota, Hawaii and Connecticut described the challenges and opportunities they faced as immigrants.
Verg said that she and her parents immigrated from India to the US with only US$500 in their pockets when she was 4 years old. Her first winter she did not have a winter coat and the family struggled to adjust.
“I want to show Americans that the definition of what it means to be American is changing,” the 20-year-old said. “It’s not just one face. There are many different people who are Americans, and I feel like Asian-Americans often times are left out of the conversation.”
The contestants’ remarks contrast with the controversy that surrounded the pageant in 2015, when then-part owner and now US President Donald Trump offended Hispanics when he made anti-immigrant remarks in announcing his bid for the White House.
Trump co-owned The Miss Universe Organization with NBCUniversal before selling the pageant to talent management company WME/IMG.
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