While most students were spending their fall breaks relaxing, one undergraduate walked the runway in front of 25,000 people in a swimsuit and evening gown.
Sophomore Savanna Welch—winner of the Miss Durham USA title—competed in the Miss North Carolina USA pageant at High Point University Oct. 9-10 and placed in the top 10 out of 72 competitors. Although Welch's only previous pageant experience was Miss Durham, she beat out many competitors who are regulars on the pageant circuit. She said she hoped to use her pageant run as a way to speak out against eating disorders and encourage female empowerment.
“I’m very much into female confidence,” Welch said. “I saw this as a platform to be able to say, ‘Little girl, you’re smart and you’re pretty, but your brain is more important than how pretty you are, how tall you are or how skinny you are.'”
The Miss North Carolina USA pageant consists of three rounds—swimsuit, interview and evening gown—and the winner advances to compete for the Miss USA title. Welch explained that the majority of her training focused on perfecting her walk and preparing for her interview.
"I felt my interview was my strongest part of the competition because of the education I've received at Duke," Welch said. "It automatically gave me an advantage."
A native of Wisconsin, Welch was able to compete in the North Carolina pageants because she is a full-time student. She said she first learned about the Miss Durham competition via Facebook and decided to sign up for it on a whim.
Welch’s friends noted that her hard work and determination helped her stand out from the other contestants.
“I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard she won Miss Durham—she’s kind, accomplished and well-spoken,” sophomore Mary Ziemba said. “Some people might stereotype pageant contestants as shallow, bragging or dumb—she is none of those things. She represents Duke and Durham so wonderfully.”
As Miss Durham, Welch has appeared as a public figure at restaurants and parades and has modeled for the clothing store Jo’s Boutique on Broad.
In preparation for Miss North Carolina, Welch had to recruit sponsors to pay for her training, evening gown, hair and makeup, she said. Several local businesses—including 140 Salon and Drybar, Harris Teeter and Pomodoro Italian Kitchen—agreed to help fund her preparation. She then participated in coaching sessions once a week during the summer and trained every day in the three weeks leading up to the pageant.
With the intense training and dieting for the pageant behind her, Welch said she now feels like she can return to her normal life.
“As soon as it was done, my mom and I went to Cookout, and I got a large milkshake and a bacon cheeseburger,” Welch said.
Despite her success at Miss North Carolina, Welch said she is not interested in participating in future pageants. She said she recognizes that the judging is often dominated by politics. Welch also acknowledged that beauty pageants are problematic in their portrayal of young women.
"I think that media today portrays women in a way that's not feminist," she said. "We say we've come so far, but I'm still standing in front of 25,000 people wearing a bikini."
Although Welch will no longer compete in pageants once her term as Miss Durham expires, she does plan to continue modeling and eventually pursue a career in acting or broadcasting.
“It’s my first pageant and my last,” Welch said.
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