ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) – Deidre Downs passed up medical school so she could compete for Miss America. Now she plans to spend her reign advocating for pediatric cancer victims.
“People don’t like to associate cancer with children,” she said Sunday. “Children with cancer need a voice, and I want to be that voice.”
Downs, of Birmingham, Ala., outlasted 51 other women to win the pageant Saturday, impressing the judges with her smarts, beauty and singing prowess. Competing head-to-head against Miss Louisiana, Jennifer Dupont, Downs turned in a strong performance singing “I’m Afraid This Must Be Love.”
The 5-foot-10½-inch brunette graduated magna cum laude from Samford University in Birmingham. A Rhodes Scholar finalist, she was accepted to the University of Alabama’s medical school in Birmingham but delayed her entry after winning the Miss Alabama title – on her fifth try.
“I guess I was just a sucker for punishment,” she said.
Downs paid her way through college using nearly $50,000 in scholarship money won competing for Miss Alabama. She’ll get $50,000 more for winning Miss America and could make several times that much in appearance fees during her yearlong reign.
Downs’ victory capped a shorter Miss America telecast that showed more skin and fewer talent routines.
Whether the changes succeeded isn’t known yet. Nielsen Media Research ratings come out later this week.
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