Madeline Cooper of Russellville was crowned Miss UNA at the 50th Miss UNA scholarship pageant.
Cooper is a junior, studying secondary education with hopes to become an AP Government teacher. Cooper will now proceed to prepare for the Miss Alabama competition to take place later this year. As Miss UNA, Cooper will receive a year’s tuition, a book scholarship, a custom ring from Creative Jewelers and many other rewards from the competition’s sponsors.
Cooper competed against 16 other competitors for the title. Maggie Keller placed third runner up as well, as the talent award, Tristan Williamson also tied for talent. Jada Winston placed second runner up, she also received Miss Congeniality and was named the Creative Jewelers winner. Caroline Coleman placed as first runner up, she will represent UNA in the case that Cooper cannot. Along with the crown, Cooper walked away with the community service initiative award.
Cooper has been involved with the Miss UNA program since 2012, when she was Anne Marie Hall’s rising star. Hall was crowned that year, so Cooper was able to be with Hall the entire road, including going to Miss Alabama with her. Hall told Cooper that year that she could see her being Miss UNA one day, so Cooper took that to heart.
When Cooper got to UNA she joined many different clubs such as UPC, Lagrange Society, and was a part of the Marching Pride as a Lionette. These things made Cooper grow to love the campus life of UNA even more.
Cooper was registering and preparing for the competition last year, but eventually had to pull out due to health issues. This year was different.
“This year was the 50th year of the pageant, it all came full circle,” Cooper said. “Anna Marie was there and was able to watch me get crowned. It was like all my dreams unfolded at once.”
Each year the contestants are asked to create a community service initiative to use their platform to advocate for. Cooper’s was called “Liberty and Learning For All.” She partnered with the Liberty Learning foundation to visit different K-12 classrooms to spread the liberty learning foundation initiative in the school systems local to Colbert and Lauderdale County.
Cooper also plans to spread her initiative across campus as well.
“I want to encourage students to be civic involved,” she said. “ To give back to their community while also being registered and active voters.”
To do so, she hopes to work with UNA alumni and local government officials. She will spend her reign as Miss UNA continuing her initiative on campus and also throughout the state of Alabama.
For the talent portion, Cooper performed the musical theater number “Don’t Rain On My Parade” from the broadway musical “Funny Girl.” Cooper has been singing for as long as she can remember. She was involved in the theater program in her high school and has sung at her church for many years.
Cooper will go on to represent UNA in Miss Alabama, a preliminary for Miss America. The competition date will be announced later this spring.
“It means more to me than anything. It’s been my dream to be Miss UNA since I was nine years old, and I love this University more than anything,” Cooper said. “I am so thankful, and I hope to be the Miss UNA that everybody knows they can lean on.”
