LOGAN, Utah (AP) — The winner of the Miss Utah State University pageant captured the title after performing a spoken-word poem about the challenges of being a woman of color on campus.
The Salt Lake Tribune reports Alexis Cooper, a junior agricultural science major, was crowned Miss USU 2018 last week after exploring through poem her difficulties at the predominantly white school.
Cooper says she heard nothing but silence after she finished. But then the crowd gave her a standing ovation.
Cooper says her experience following in the same footsteps as her white maternal grandmother, Irene Jenson, who was also a beauty queen and a sorority sister at the university, represents a step forward.
Enrollment numbers for spring 2018 indicate Utah State University’s student body is currently more than 85 percent white.
