By La’Niya Jones
R’Bonney Gabriel was crowned Miss Universe in January. Since then the former Miss USA was tasked with crowning a new Miss USA, Morgan Romano. Gabriel was unable to keep both titles, as the workload for both would collide.
Romano won Miss North Carolina in 2022. She was crowned the new Miss USA since she was the runner-up in the original Miss USA competition. The ceremony took place at Auburn University at the end of January.
For people who do not know, Miss USA is an annual beauty pageant that gathers the Misses of the 50 states together to compete for the title of Miss USA. They would go through interviews and clothing competitions throughout the event. The winner of the title would then travel around the U.S. and overseas to talk about their chosen cause.
A rule was made in the 1960s that stated if the winner could not fulfill her duties as Miss USA, which included if she won Miss Universe, she would be replaced.
Romano is a chemical engineer and a graduate of the University of South Carolina. She worked as an application engineer at RE Mason in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her passion lies in getting little girls interested in science, technology, engineering, and math.
She worked with Best Buddies International, a non-profit organization working to create opportunities for people with disabilities in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, or math) field.
Romano even has her own organization called Outside the Box, which works to bring science kits to classrooms, children’s hospitals, and more for kids in need. The project also shows people that it is okay to embrace who you are, no matter what that is.
“We need more women [in STEM],” Romano shared in a message for the world. “And that starts at a younger age because your curiosity and the things you’re passionate about start to shape when you’re young…If kids aren’t being told about STEM, how would they know to ever pursue it?”
Another interest the new Miss USA has is dancing. She is a classically trained ballet dancer and was a principal dancer in a youth ballet company for ten years.
Romano plans to use her new title for good and help spread her message of STEM to the younger generation of girls out there, to show everyone that it’s okay to be yourself and to never let someone tear you down. So, please give a round of applause to the new Miss USA, Morgan Romano.
