Posted on 10/14/2002 3:23:10 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Here she is ... Miss America!
CHAMPAIGN – Since being crowned Miss America on Sept. 21, Erika Harold has been on “The David Letterman Show;” she has been interviewed by Diane Sawyer; and she has met with national and world leaders.
But she said Saturday in Champaign that the most exciting thing she's done so far is come home.
“Part of the joy of winning something like this is celebrating it with everyone who knew you when you were a nobody,” she said.
Harold, who grew up in Urbana and graduated in 2001 from the University of Illinois, returned home Saturday for the first time since winning the Miss America pageant.
While here she had breakfast at UI President James and Joan Stukel's home, sang the national anthem at Memorial Stadium with the UI Varsity Men's Glee Club, and spent the evening with 425 relatives, friends, neighbors and well-wishers at a homecoming dinner at the Hawthorn Suite in Champaign.
Before dinner, Harold posed for photographs with people. After dinner, she sang the Christian hymn “How Beautiful,” after Miss Illinois Michelle LaGroue, Miss Oklahoma Casey Preslar and first runner-up to Miss Illinois, Deanna Riddle, each took a turn singing.
The entertainment lineup also featured Miss Nevada, Teresa Benitez, who delivered the monologue she presented in the Miss America pageant: the speech that Dennis Shephard gave the court and jury in the trial of the two men who killed his gay son, Matthew Shepard, in 1998 in Laramie, Wyo.
After she finished, Benitez presented Harold with a plaque engraved with a quote from Gandhi that Benitez said Harold embodies: “You must become the change you wish to see in the world.”
Harold, who is speaking out on youth violence, bullying and sexual abstinence, later said her faith is at the core of who she is.
“I want to communicate to young people – even if I can't say the words in a public school – that there is a God who loves them and cares for them very much,” she said.
“Sometimes you take flak for what you say, but if you really want to see teen pregnancy rates decline and violence decrease you have to stand up for what you believe in.”
Earlier in the day, after singing the national anthem at Memorial Stadium, Harold – wearing a purple dress suit, high-heeled sandals and her tiara – walked through the north end of the football field as the game began. She was trailed by a photographer for People magazine, which plans to publish an article on her.
Harold stopped to shake hands, give kids hugs, pose for photographs and sign her autograph. She pumped her left arm when UI freshman Travis Williams received the ball from cornerback Eugene Wilson, on the opening kick off, and ran for 90 yards for a touchdown.
“That was his very first college touchdown,” Williams' mother, Carolyn Johnson, later said. “She (Miss America) was there at the same time. Talk about a ‘Kodak moment.' Did you see how excited she got when we told her it was the first time he played in that position?'
“My son is mixed, too,” Johnson added. “He's gone through the same stuff she has.”
Johnson was referring to Harold's having been bullied and harassed while she attended University Laboratory High School. She transferring from Uni to Urbana High School in the middle of her sophomore year.
“In sharing my story,” Harold told The News-Gazette, “it's not my intention to bring shame to University High School or to use this public forum to get revenge on them. Whenever I speak I talk about it in generalities and I don't give names.
“I talk about the experiences that happened to me, that a lot of kids can relate to. I'm not motivated by animosity toward University High School and I would hate for them to think I am singling them out in sharing this story. I made peace with them a long time ago. I have no bitterness, resentment or hostility toward Uni.”
Harold said that harassment and bullying happens to 80 percent of students nationwide, though not at the level that she experienced. By speaking out, she said, she hopes to create awareness that bullying and harassment can affect a young person's ability to operate in the classroom and can affect his or her emotions into adulthood.
“I also want to take away the stigma by saying, ‘This happened to me' “ she said. By speaking out, she hopes to encourage school districts everywhere to adopt effective policies against bullying.
As for sexual abstinence, Harold said the attempt of Miss America officials to silence her was a nonissue.
“It was always my intention to incorporate some form of abstinence education into my youth-violence platform,” she said. “I never desired to be subversive or to have a double platform. It baffled me that there was a controversy about it.
“I've been on the public record on this issue (of abstinence) for so long. I think it's something people have come to understand and accept me and maybe love me for it. My focus is youth violence, but certainly, if I'm sharing that with kids, my abstinence from sex, drugs and alcohol has to be shared with them, too, in the appropriate context.”
The 22-year-old Harold said she also has been surprised since becoming Miss America at how the national media has misinterpreted or misconstrued some of her remarks. One example – which she called benign – relates to her mixed heritage.
Harold's mother, Donna Tanner-Harold, is African-American, American Indian and Russian, while her father is German, English and Scottish. Harold said she was only joking when she said she checks “other” on the U.S. Census form. Her comment was widely reported by the national media.
“In actuality, I consider myself African-American,” Harold said. “I'm very proud of all my racial background. But in the society we live in, I'm going to be classified as a black woman, and that's something I'm proud of.”
Harold, who will attend Harvard Law School after her yearlong reign ends, has said she wants to run for public office some day. She said Saturday that becoming president of the United States is something she aspires to.
“I would probably run as a Republican,” she replied when asked what party she would represent. “But I'm not sure because I can't be sure how the political landscape will change in 20 or 30 years. I'm someone who's much more issue-oriented. I would like to bring together a diverse coalition to try to solve problems that everyone is concerned about – education, health care.”
She can count on at least two votes – from Jodie Steggerda of Champaign and Bertie Marx of St. Joseph. Even though Steggerda had never met Harold or her family, she attended the homecoming dinner and lists Harold among people who will make a difference in the world.
“She has a lot to say, and I think no one will stop her from saying it,” Steggerda said. “She's so much more than a pretty face.”
“She's the type of girl who will bring everyone together,” Marx said.
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Call me old fashioned but I prefer the good ol' days when beauty queens used to put out.
BTW, my wife loathed this year's setup. You must realize my wife has that runway wave down cold too. Lots of practice for many years!
BTW, my wife loathed this year's setup. You must realize my wife has that runway wave down cold too. Lots of practice for many years!
Unfortunately, that's along the lines of what I was thinking. She must be a very strong person to deal with bullies growing up, but if she goes into a politics as a black conservative she will most likely have to deal with a whole new level of bullying, threats, and name calling. May God keep giving her strength.
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