Sorry, guys, the only beauty queen at Northwestern won’t be on campus this year.
Jenny Powers, the current holder of the Miss Illinois crown, is taking a one-year hiatus from NU to train for the Miss America pageant and fulfill her Miss Illinois duties.
“You only get one shot to go to Miss America,” Powers said after winning the Miss Illinois crown in July, shortly after completing her sophomore year. “I will learn more in this one year than I will learn during my four years at Northwestern.”
The Miss America pageant will air Oct. 14 from Atlantic City, N.J. (7 p.m. on ABC). Powers will leave for Walt Disney World on Sept. 28 to meet the other 50 contestants. She then will participate in the weeklong cutting process before the pageant, which will narrow the field to 10 contestants.
The vocal-performance major will sing “Quando Men Vo” (When I Go Out), at the competition, an aria from Puccini’s “La Boheme,” the opera on which the musical “Rent” is based. Powers has been on stage since age 9, playing Anita in “West Side Story” and serving as a cast member in the Waa-Mu show the past two years at NU.
Despite all of the opportunities her title has afforded her — including singing the national anthem at the Democratic National Convention in August — Powers said the life of a beauty queen is not all glamour.
“Miss Illinois is a job,” she said. “It’s like running for president — you have to have opinions on all the issues.”
Instead of cramming for exams this year, Powers will promote her platform: the role of arts in education. She already has met with national supporters of the arts in Washington, D.C., and she plans to visit schools throughout Illinois to educate parents and school boards about the benefits of the arts, including improved communication skills and the prevention of at-risk behavior.
Powers also has contacted the campaigns of presidential candidates Al Gore and George W. Bush and has worked with VH1’s “Save the Music” program.
Powers is NU’s third Miss Illinois in four years. Jade Smalls, Music ’00, was first runner-up at the Miss America pageant in 1999, and Kate Shindle, Speech ’99, was crowned Miss America in 1997.
