The 97th Miss America pageant will air live Sunday night at 8 p.m. on ABC. Two University of Alabama students will compete in the pageant. Jessica Procter, an interdisciplinary studies and psychology student at UA, is the 2017 Miss Alabama, and past graduate Briana Kinsley will compete as Miss D.C.
Procter is involved with multiple local community projects such as “Step Up To The Plate” in partnership with the West Alabama Food Bank in an effort to decrease food insecurity in the area. According to her contestant profile on the Miss America website, if crowned she wants to work with colleges to create food recovery programs for major sporting events.
“The Bachelor” host Chris Harrison and ESPN host and commentator Sage Steele will host Sunday night’s broadcast. This will be Harrison’s ninth time hosting, and Steele will be co-hosting for the second year in a row.
Sunday night’s judges include TV and radio host Maria Menounos, former Miss America Nina Davuluri, singer Thomas Rhett, actress Molly Sims, Jordin Sparks and People magazine editor-in-chief Jess Cagle.
This year’s pageant will be held in Atlantic City, where the pageant originated in 1921. The winner will receive $50,000 in scholarship money.
