Nina Davuluri
| Nina Davuluri నీనా దావులూరి | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Davuluri at the Miss America 2014 traditional toe dip. | |
| Born | April 20, 1989 Syracuse, New York |
| Residence | Fayetteville, New York |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | Asian American (Indian American) |
| Citizenship | United States |
| Education | B.S. Brain, Behavior & Cognitive Science |
| Alma mater | University of Michigan |
| Occupation | Applying to medical school |
| Known for | First Indian American Miss America and Miss New York; First to perform a Bollywood dance at the Miss America pageant |
| Title | Miss Michigan's Outstanding Teen 2006 First runner up at Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2007 Miss Syracuse 2013 Miss New York 2013 Miss America 2014 |
| Term | 2013-2014 |
| Predecessor | Shannon Oliver (Miss New York) Mallory Hagan (Miss America) |
| Successor | Amanda Mason (Miss New York) |
| Religion | Hinduism |
| Awards | Dean's List Michigan Merit Award National Honor Society Award |
Nina Davuluri (born April 20, 1989) is Miss New York 2013 and Miss America 2014. She is the first Indian American to be chosen as Miss America and as Miss New York. She is also the first to perform a Bollywood dance on the Miss America stage. After she was crowned Miss America, there was a backlash of xenophobic and racist comments in social media.
Contents
Early life and education
Davuluri was born on April 20, 1989 in Syracuse, New York, to Hindu Telugu parents.[1][2][3] Her mother, Sheila Ranjani, a computer specialist, and her father Davuluri Koteshwara Choudhary, a gynaecologist, came to the United States in 1981 from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India.[4] Her elder sister Mina is a medical student at SUNY Medical University and a number of other members of her family are in the medical profession.[5][4]
When she was six weeks old, she was brought to live with her grandmother and aunt in Vijayawada. She stayed there until she was two and a half years old, at which time her parents brought her back to the United States.[6] She lived in Oklahoma for a period as a child until her family moved to St. Joseph, Michigan when she was 10. She graduated from St. Joseph High School in 2007, where she "played varsity tennis, participated in band, was a cheerleader and captain of the color guard." [7] In 2007, her family moved to Fayetteville, New York.[8] She graduated from the University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts in 2012 with a B.S. in Brain, Behavior & Cognitive Science. [7][9] While at the University of Michigan, she was also a member of Sigma Kappa.[9] She is the recipient of several awards including Dean's List, Michigan Merit Award, and National Honor Society Award.[10]
Outstanding Teen and Miss New York
Davuluri notes that she became involved in pageants in order to earn money for college. As a result of being named Miss Michigan's Outstanding Teen 2006 and first runner up at Miss America's Outstanding Teen 2007, she received a $25,000 scholarship that enabled her to "graduate debt-free from the University of Michigan."[11][7] She then "took about five years off from the pageant world" in order to finish her undergraduate education, only reentering it again to raise money for medical school.[11] In 2013, she was named Miss Syracuse and later Miss New York.[12]
After she was crowned Miss New York, Davuluri invited friends to her hotel room for a party. A fellow contestant in a neighboring hotel room claimed that she overheard Davuluri refer to Miss America 2013 Mallory Hagan as "fat as [bleep]" during the party. According to a Miss America official, "The situation was investigated fully back in July and there is no validity to the story whatsoever. Miss New York spoke to Mallory Hagan to let her know there was no validity and to apologize if she was offended in any way."[13] Davuluri has also stated in interviews that she did not make these remarks and that she and "Mallory are good friends."[14]
In addition, she has spoken publicly about losing 53 pounds (24 kg), her personal struggles with bulimia, and her belief that you don't need to be a certain size to be healthy.[15] She states: "I first got in shape for personal reasons, not for Miss America. I lost the weight two years previous to competition. Really for me it was about getting healthy. I struggled with an eating disorder and I just didn't want to live like that anymore. I really could not do that to myself anymore."[16]
2014 Miss America pageant
Davuluri was crowned Miss America 2014 on September 15, 2013, with the platform "celebrating diversity through cultural competency," one that she had been developing, she stated in an interview, "for the last three years."[17][18][19]
Talent
Davuluri grew up studying Indian classical dance forms Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam.[18][6] For the talent portion, she performed a fusion of Bollywood dance with Indian classical dance. She prepared this routine with the help of choreographer Nakul Dev Mahajan and performed it to the song, "Dhoom Taana," from the Bollywood film, Om Shanti Om (starring her favorite Bollywood actor, Shahrukh Khan).[20][18][21]Davuluri stated in an interview with Inside Edition that for her talent routine, she "actually started off singing." She eventually chose instead to do a Bollywood fusion dance because it was "so representative" of her, despite the fact that many people told her that she is "never going to win with a Bollywood talent so just go back to singing if you are serious about it." She also noted that it's "the first time Bollywood has ever been on the Miss America stage and I'm glad I did it."[22][15] After she won, Davuluri appeared on Live! with Kelly and Michael where she performed Bollywood dance moves with the hosts Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan.[23][24]
Response
Shortly after she was crowned Miss America, there was a backlash of xenophobic and racist comments[25][26] related to the proximity of the event date to the nine-eleven anniversary and to anti-Indian sentiment in social media.[27][28][19] News agencies cited tweets that misidentified her as Muslim or Arab, associated her with terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, and questioned why she was chosen over Miss Kansas Theresa Vail.[26][29][27][30] Davuluri has stated in interviews that she received a similar response on a smaller scale after winning the Miss New York title [17] and that "I have to rise above that, I always viewed myself as first and foremost American."[19] She also later noted that, "for every negative comment, there were a dozen positive messages [...] I am set to launch a campaign, which would focus on unity in diversity."[21][14]
Davuluri also received public support as a result of these comments. Miss Kansas Theresa Vail denounced this response in a September 19 post on her blog (Miss Outdoor Girl) asking: "Only 3 weeks ago [...] we celebrated the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's acclaimed I Have a Dream speech" but "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." She continues by stating: "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." [31] In a later interview with Army Times, Vail referred to these comments as "disgusting."[32] U.S. Representative for New York's 3rd congressional district, Steve Israel stated that he is "troubled by the remarks aimed at" Davuluri and that he joins "with the voices of the many Americans who have cried out against these hateful remarks, and I will continue to work in Congress to fight against hatred."[33] In addition, actor and activist George Takei (Star Trek's Sulu) also defended her in a post on Facebook.[34][35] Takei later appeared a joint ABC interview with Davuluri, in which she revealed that she is a Trekkie. Takei told her, "In Star Trek we have this creed: 'Infinite diversity in infinite combinations'. That's what Starfleet was all about so you're a part of that." Davuluri ended the interview by stating, "I have to say 'Live Long and Prosper'" at which point Takei offered her the Vulcan salute, which she returned.[36]
Significance
"In India, you know, the lighter or more fair skin you are, you're supposedly considered more beautiful. And I grew up with that, you know, in my own household because my parents are from India. So my family would always say, oh, don't go out in the sun, you're going to get too dark, or things like that. But then with my peers, they would say, oh, my goodness, you're so tan. Your skin is so beautiful. And it's really sad that we always try to attain those ideals that aren't important."
While the Miss World (Reita Faria, 1966; Aishwarya Rai, 1994; Priyanka Chopra, 2000) and Miss Universe (Sushmita Sen, 1994; Lara Dutta, 2000) pageants have showcased winners from India, Davuluri is the first Indian American to win the Miss America pageant [38][37][39] and the first to win the Miss New York title as well.[11] NPR's Michel Martin discussed the signficance of the 2014 Miss America pageant in an interview with Davuluri. He noted that while she was not the first Asian American to be Miss America (the first was Filipino American Angela Perez Baraquio in 2001)[19][40] "there were" he said "five Asian-Americans competing for the crown. That's the highest number in pageant history. Three of you were in the top five. Two of you were the finalists, and this in a contest where initially the requirements were that contestants be of good health and of the white race."[11]
Davuluri is also the second Miss Syracuse after Miss New York 1983 Vanessa Williams (the first African American winner and Miss America 1984). Both she and Williams won when the pageant was held in Atlantic City and both faced a backlash over their respective wins.[10][41] In addition, Congresswoman Grace Meng compared Davuluri to the first Miss New York (1945) and the first Jewish American winner of the title, Bess Myerson (Miss America 1945) who also faced a backlash as a result of her win.[42][43]
According to Miss America officials, the level of interest in Davuluri is "unprecedented" in the history of the pageant.[44]
Miss America role
Davuluri's platform for her year as Miss America is "Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency." As part of this campaign, she has launched "a new social media campaign to encourage constructive and civil dialogue on diversity issues." Davuluri has asked people to "forward representative thoughts and stories about their experiences on how we as a nation can advance cultural awareness." [45][14]
Medical school
Davuluri will use the $50,000 scholarship that she won from the Miss America pageant in addition to the $10,000 from the Miss New York pageant as payment towards medical school.[46] She is currently in the process of applying and has not yet decided on her specialization.[47]
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Hiten A. Raja
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Hiten@HitenRaja.com
Lakshmi ka Hath ho,
"HAPPY NAVRATRI"
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