Nina Davuluri

Nina Davuluri Biography

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.

Early life and education

Davuluri was born on April 20, 1989 in Syracuse, New York, to Hindu Telugu parents from Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh, India. Her mother Sheela Davuluri is an information technology specialist, her father Chaudhury Davuluri is an OB/GYN, and her elder sister Mina is a medical student at SUNY Medical University.

When she was six weeks old, Davuluri 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. She would return to India every summer, however, to study various forms of Indian dance. Davaluri lived in Oklahoma for a period as a child until her family moved to St. Joseph, Michigan when she was 10. While in Michigan, she studied ballet, tap dance, and jazz dance. She was also a "high school marching band clarinetist, cheerleader, varsity tennis player and Science Olympiad team member at St. Joseph High School." Davuluri graduated from St. Joseph in 2007, the same year that her family moved to Fayetteville, New York.

Davuluri initially attended Michigan State University for one year and then transferred to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. While at the University of Michigan, she was a Sigma Kappa (Alpha Mu) and a member of the Indian dance squad, Maya. She graduated in 2011 from The University of Michigan's College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) with a B.S. in Brain, Behavior & Cognitive Science. After graduation, Davuluri moved back to New York to live with her family and take pre-med requisites at Le Moyne College in order to complete her requirements for medical school.

Davuluri is the recipient of several awards including Dean's List, Michigan Merit Award, and National Honor Society Award.

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." 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. She was first runner up for Miss New York 2012 and won Miss New York in 2013.

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." Davuluri has also stated in interviews that she did not make these remarks and that "Mallory and I are good friends."

In addition, she has spoken publicly about losing , her personal struggles with bulimia, and her belief that you don't need to be a certain size to be healthy. 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."

2014 Miss America pageant

Davuluri was crowned Miss America 2014 on September 15, 2013.

Bollywood fusion dance

Davuluri grew up studying Indian classical dance forms Kuchipudi and Bharatanatyam. 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).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."

Response

Shortly after she was crowned Miss America, there was a backlash of xenophobic and racist comments related to the proximity of the event date to the nine-eleven anniversary and to anti-Indian sentiment in social media. News agencies cited tweets that misidentified her as Muslim or Arab, associated her with groups such as Al-Qaeda, and questioned why she was chosen over Miss Kansas Theresa Vail. Davuluri has stated in interviews that she received a similar response on a smaller scale after winning the Miss New York title and that "I have to rise above that, I always viewed myself as first and foremost American." 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."

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." In a later interview with Army Times, Vail referred to these comments as "disgusting." U.S. Representative for , 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." In addition, actor and activist George Takei (Star Trek's Sulu) also defended her in a post on Facebook. Takei later appeared a joint ABC News 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.

Significance

</ref>}} 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 and the first to win the Miss New York title as well. 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) "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."

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. 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.

According to Miss America officials, the level of interest in Davuluri is "unprecedented" in the history of the pageant.

Miss America role

Platform

Davuluri's platform for her year as Miss America is "Celebrating Diversity Through Cultural Competency," one that she had been developing, she stated in an interview, "for the last three years." 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."

President Obama

On October 16, 2013, Davuluri met President Barack Obama through a joint meeting with the Children's Miracle Network Hospital Champions at the White House.

Obama previously met with Miss Americas Laura Kaeppeler (2012), Caressa Cameron (2010), and Katie Stam (2009) during similar events.

 In addition, in March 2008, President Bush met with Miss America Kirsten Haglund also for the same cause.

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. She is currently in the process of applying and has not yet decided on her specialization.

Video clips and interviews

Miss America 2014

Vote for Miss New York 2013 Nina Davuluri - Miss America Organization
Nina Davuluri, Miss America 2014 Talent Performance: Bollywood Fusion Dance to "Dhoom Taana," from Om Shanti Om - The Aerogram
Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri's Crowning Moment - Miss America Organization

Interviews

Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan. "Miss America 2014 Nina Davuluri on LIVE with Kelly and Michael." - Live! with Kelly and Michael, September 17, 2013.
AJ Calloway. "Miss America Nina Davuluri Opens Up About Racist Remarks" - Extra, Sept. 17, 2013.
"After Defending Miss America From Racial Comments, George Takei Meets Nina Davuluri For First Time" - ABC News, September 18, 2013 (George Takei, Star Trek's Sulu).
"Miss America 2014: How I Survived the Hate," Bloomberg News, September 20, 2013.
Jason Robinson. "Miss America Nina Davuluri Joins THZ's Jason Robinson In The Hot Zone To Discuss Her Historic Win! Videography & Editing By Malik LeGare." THZ, October 7, 2013.
Riaz Meghji. "BT Vancouver: Miss America 2014." Breakfast Television, Vancouver, City (TV network), October 28, 2013.