Miss Wisconsin Grace Stanke crowned Miss America
MADISON, Wis. - A Wausau Native who is studying nuclear engineering at UW Madison has been crowned Miss America Thursday night, Dec. 15.
With Brains and Beauty, Grace Stanke takes the title of Miss America and wears the crown.
After Thursday night's announcement, the past 24 hours have been quite the whirlwind for the 20-year-old Wausau native.
Miss America Grace Stanke
"I’m feeling really good. I got three hours of sleep," said Stanke. "You know, I’m doing pretty good right now, I feel like."
FOX6 News caught up with Stanke Friday morning to see how she felt the morning after her big win.
"I’m incredibly honored and blessed," said Stanke.
Stanke is a senior at the University of Wisconsin majoring in nuclear engineering and is also a classical violinist.
"It’s important to me to recognize that people can be so many things and have multiple identities," said Stanke. "They can do so many things, and this class of women that were standing on the stage with me are women that represent that."
Stanke was no stranger to winning before Miss America; she took home the Miss Wisconsin 2022 title.
Caitlin Machol, the Miss Wisconsin Marketing and Public Relations Director.
"She always wants bigger and better for herself, for the organization and for everybody around her. She's just a remarkable woman," said Caitlin Machol, the Miss Wisconsin Marketing and Public Relations Director.
As Stanke steps into her role as Miss America, she said she plans to focus on her social impact initiative.
"I’m excited to talk about wind, solar, nuclear, hydroelectric, biomass, and so many forms of alternative zero-carbon energy," said Stanke.
Miss America being crowned
Upon winning, Stanke was awarded $50,000 in cash scholarship. Additionally, she played the violin in the pageant's talent competition. She won during the final night of "Preliminary Competition," receiving $2,500 in scholarship assistance during the second night of the 2023 Miss America Competition.
Fifty-one young women from all 50 states and Washington, D.C., competed for the college scholarships that come with the title of Miss America.
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The Miss America Organization, a 501(c) 4 non-profit corporation, provides millions of dollars in annual college scholarship assistance, making it the largest scholarship program for women in the United States. MAO contestants contribute over 500,000 hours of community service annually.
Miss America is the largest scholarship organization for women in the world.