Theresa Vail

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Theresa Vail
Born Theresa Marie Vail
(1990-10-01) October 1, 1990
Education Chemistry and Chinese Major
Alma mater Kansas State University
Occupation Pre-dental student for the U.S. Military
Known for First Miss America contestant to display tattoos in the swimsuit competition
Home town Manhattan, Kansas
Title Miss Kansas 2013
Predecessor Sloane Lewis
Religion Christian
Awards Miss America 2014 "America's Choice" award
Website
http://missoutdoorgirl.com/

Theresa Vail (born October 1, 1990) is Miss Kansas 2013. She became the first Miss America contestant to openly display tattoos during the swimsuit competition in the Miss America 2014 pageant, where she placed into the Top 10 and won the "America's Choice" award. She is currently a pre-dental senior at Kansas State University and a mechanic and section leader in the Kansas Army National Guard Medical Detachment.

Early life and education

Vail graduated from Leavenworth High School in 2009[1] and is currently a senior at Kansas State University majoring in Chemistry and Chinese[2] (though she has taken a year off to complete her duties as Miss Kansas).[1] She plans to obtain a Doctor of Dental Surgery Degree and become a prosthodontist for the army.[3][4] She is the recipient of the "Georganne Howler Chemistry Scholarship," and is a Distinguished Honor Graduate at the Army School of Ordinance and a Distinguished Honor Graduate at the Army School of Health Sciences. She is also a section leader in the Kansas Army National Guard Medical Detachment where she received the Army physical fitness award [2] and excels in archery, marksmanship, skydiving, and boxing.[2]

When Vail was 19 and the only female mechanic in a military motor pool, she experienced verbal sexual harassment and "inappropriate comments" from co-workers.[5] After her commander took the side of her co-workers, she went over his head and was allowed to transfer to another unit. Vail states that women in a similar situation should “raise hell about it [....] You need to stand up for yourself because nobody’s going to do it for you. I knew even at 19 that this was unacceptable.”[5]

Pageants

Theresa Vail, Miss Kansas, waves as other contestants look on at the Miss America 2014 pageant.

Miss Kansas 2013 and Miss America 2014

Vail won the Miss Kansas pageant on June 8, 2013 as Miss Leavenworth County.[1][6] She then participated in the September 15 Miss America 2014 contest with the platform, "Empowering Women: Overcoming Stereotypes and Breaking Barriers." [2][3] This platform was inspired by the way that outdoor sports with her father helped her to overcome being bullied as a child.[4] Vail underscored her goals for the Miss America pageant in a Twitter message that she sent prior to the finals: "“Win or not tonight, I have accomplished what I set out to do. I have empowered women. I have opened eyes.”[7] She further commented that, "nobody expects a soldier to be a beauty queen [...] but I'm all about breaking stereotypes."[4]

Vail was one of the 15 semifinalists chosen from the original 53 contestants and was named "America's Choice."[5][8] During the swimsuit competition, Vail became the first Miss America contestant to openly display tattoos in the swimsuit competition (the insignia of the United States Army Dental Command on her left shoulder and one of the Serenity Prayer along the right side of her torso).[9][10]

Vail passed the swimsuit competition as well as the evening gown portion of the contest, which put her in the top 10.[11] She was eliminated, however, after giving her talent performance, which counted for 30% of her total score.[11][12][13] Her talent was supposed to be archery but a few days before preparing to compete as Miss Leavenworth County, she found out that it wouldn't be allowed.[1] As she had to either drop out of the competition or find a new talent, she chose to sing the aria, Nessun Dorma. Although she sang soprano in her high school choir, she had never sung opera before, having only an appreciation for it due to her childhood in Europe.[4]

"It was only 3 weeks ago that we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King’s acclaimed I Have a Dream speech. Dr. King spoke out against racism and inequality [....] Have we really progressed as a nation? Have we overcome the obstacles of injustice and racism? Have we lived up to what Dr. King envisioned? Evidently not, because it is 2013 and Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014, is receiving racist backlash for her heritage. This outstanding woman has broken so many barriers [....] Most of you are familiar with my own platform; Empowering women to overcome stereotypes and break barriers. Well, Nina is doing just that. As her friend, as a titleholder, and as a leader, I give her my support [....] To my own fans; you supported me for breaking so many barriers and I ask that you now do the same for the reigning Miss America."

— Theresa Vail, Miss Outdoor Girl, September 19, 2013.[5][14]

Though she did not win the Miss America crown, Vail said that she enjoyed the experience, making three close friends there.[1] In an interview given the day after the Miss America contest, Vail stated that the winner, Miss New York Nina Davuluri, is "a wonderful person. I really connected with Miss New York. Out of the whole time, it was Miss New York, Nevada, and Illinois. I feel very confident in her ability to do the job."[8]

Post Miss America Pageant

There was a backlash of xenophobic and racist comments in social media against Davuluri shortly after she was crowned Miss America 2014[15][16] related to the proximity of the event date to the nine-eleven anniversary and to anti-Indian sentiment.[17] News agencies cited tweets that questioned why she was chosen over Vail, misidentified her as Muslim or Arab, and associated her with terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda.[16][17][18]

Vail denounced this response in a September 19 post on her blog (Miss Outdoor Girl).[14] In a later interview with Army Times, Vail referred to these comments as "disgusting" and said that they were made out of "ignorance.”[5]

Video clips and interviews

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 John Richmeier. "Leavenworth High grad enjoys Miss America experience". Leavenworth Times. Retrieved September 28, 2013. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Miss Kansas 2013 Theresa Vail". Miss Kansas. Retrieved October 6, 2013. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Miss America: Miss Kansas 2013 Theresa Vail". Miss America Organization. Retrieved October 10, 2013. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "Miss America's Sgt. Theresa Vail Is First Contestant to Expose Tattoos". People Magazine. September 10, 2013. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Gould, Joe (September 30, 2013). "Miss Kansas: 'Raise hell' about sexual harassment". Army Times. 
  6. ↑ Miss Kansas Official Site
  7. ↑ AP (September 19, 2013). "First Indian-origin woman crowned Miss America". The Hindu. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Supporters Welcome Back Miss Kansas". KAKE Channel 10. September 16, 2013. 
  9. ↑ Gould, Joe (September 12, 2013). "Tattooed Kan. Guard sergeant is Miss America contestant". Army Times. 
  10. ↑ Linton, Caroline (September 14, 2013). "Miss Kansas Bares Her Tattoos". The Daily Beast. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Miss America Crowns 2014 Winner". USA Today. September 17, 2013. 
  12. ↑ LISA GUTIERREZ (September 16, 2013). "How Miss Kansas blew the Miss America crown: She sang". The Wichita Eagle. 
  13. ↑ Diana Reese (September 16, 2013). "Miss America pageant evolves to include all kinds of diversity". The Washington Post. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Vail, Theresa (September 19, 2013). "Miss America". Theresa Vail's Blog: Miss Outdoor Girl. 
  15. ↑ "Is Bollywood the New Zumba?". ELLE. September 26, 2013. Retrieved September 27, 2013. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 ALEXANDER ABAD-SANTOS (September 16, 2013). "The First Indian-American Miss America Has Racists Very, Very Confused". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 16, 2013. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Ryan Broderick (September 16, 2013). "A Lot Of People Are Very Upset That An Indian-American Woman Won The Miss America Pageant". BuzzFeed. Retrieved September 29, 2013. 
  18. ↑ Stuart, Tessa (September 16, 2013). "Fox Host Todd Starnes Outraged That Indian-American Nina Davuluri Won Miss America". The Village Voice. Retrieved September 30, 2013. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Theresa Vail.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Sloane Lewis		 Miss Kansas
2013 		Succeeded by
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Miss America Delegates of
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