Miss Alabama wins Miss America writing competition

December 16, 2021

The Miss America Organization and The Miss America Foundation have announced the 2022 scholarship award winner for The Dakota State University and The Beacom College of Computer and Cyber Sciences STEM Scholarship. She is Miss Alabama, Lauren Bradford.

Bradford will receive an unrestricted cash award of $5,000, and the ability to enroll at Dakota State for either an undergraduate degree or a post-graduate degree, for a total scholarship value that could exceed $85,000. Two Dakota State faculty members developed a rubric used to determine the winner, who was announced on December 15.

The award was presented by Amy Crissinger, Vice President for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management. Earlier in the week, Crissinger served on panels to determine winners of other scholarships, including Women in Business, Women in STEM, Social Impact Initiatives, and Equity and Justice.

For the DSU/Beacom STEM Scholarship, the candidates were asked to write a blog, tweet, and an Instagram post on a question that asked how they advise balancing technology’s advantages with concerns about privacy and safety.

Bradford focused on cyberattacks, writing that “at all levels of society, we must become both defensive and proactive when it comes to this harsh reality.”

She is a finance graduate from Auburn University, and plans to pursue a master’s degree at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management beginning in Fall 2022. Her career goals are to do strategic and management consulting with a global consulting firm. Her platform for the Miss America competition is UNPLUG: The Digital Diet Plan. Bradford was named first runner-up in the competition finals.