“You can achieve anything,” says Madison Marsh in an interview on Instagram Story. Marsh, 22, was crowned Miss America on Sunday. According to the congratulatory statement made by the US Air Force, she is the first active-duty military member to win the title in the pageant’s nearly 100-year history.
Marsh serves as a second lieutenant in the US Air Force. She is also taking up a master’s degree in public policy at Harvard Kennedy School.
The 22-year-old Air Force lieutenant, representing the state of Colorado, outshines fifty-one contestants from all 50 US states.
“I’m very excited to get to represent women who can break stereotypes,” Marsh added.
During her victory speech, Marsh tells fellow women across the country, “You can achieve anything.”
The Colorado representative shared during the contest how her mother, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2018, inspired her to institute the Whitney Marsh Foundation to raise funds for pancreatic cancer research and pursue a career in cancer research and public policy.
She also candidly wrote on her profile by Air Education and Training Command, “My mom was a huge runner, even when she was going through chemotherapy treatments.”
“When we talked about ways to raise money, we wanted to remember who my mom was and not what cancer had made her. So we started the Whitney Marsh Foundation and specifically hosted a 5K and 10K run every year based out of our hometown in Fort Smith, Arkansas.”
They were able to raise more than a quarter of a million dollars at present.
Her performance during the talent round was a spoken-word poem about her earning a pilot license at the age of 16.
Marsh, who was originally from Fort Smith, Arkansas, has a degree in physics, majoring in astronomy. She graduated from the United States Air Force Academy in El Paso County, Colorado.
Before winning the crown, Marsh told The Harvard Crimson how she views joining pageants and the military.
“When I put on my uniform, I serve, and I represent our country,” she said. “When I put on the crown and sash, I’m serving, representing my community.”
She is also grateful to the Air Force Academy for developing her leadership skills which gave her the ability to win the Miss Colorado title.
According to the Miss America website, the 2024 winner of the pageant will be awarded $60,000 in tuition scholarships and have the opportunity to travel the country as the Miss America brand ambassador.
Miss America 2024 also surpasses other transwoman candidates under the Miss America Organization. The pageant, which gained backlash for allowing transgender to join the competition, recently issued new conditions that effectively prohibit any trans person from entering the Miss America pageant unless they were able to complete the entire expensive and lengthy ordeal of transitioning from male to female.
Miss America owner and CEO Robin Fleming also emphasized these new rules and maintained that these will stay. He also argued that, despite the recent changes in the transgender policy, they were able to accommodate three transwomen on their stages this year.
The CEO also clarified that these rules do not impact the current cycle.
