{"id":73927,"date":"2016-09-08T09:30:35","date_gmt":"2016-09-08T13:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/?p=73927"},"modified":"2021-01-06T10:36:38","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T15:36:38","slug":"pair-knights-strive-miss-america-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ucf.edu\/news\/pair-knights-strive-miss-america-crown\/","title":{"rendered":"Pair of Knights Strive for Miss America Crown"},"content":{"rendered":"

And the winner of this year\u2019s Miss America competition is\u2026 hopefully a Knight.<\/p>\n

This Sunday\u2019s 96th installment of the annual pageant features two UCF alumni.<\/p>\n

Miss Florida Courtney Sexton, \u201915, and Miss Missouri Erin O\u2019Flaherty, \u201915, are vying to become the latest Knight to claim the title of Miss America.\u00a0Ericka Dunlap, \u201905, was awarded the crown in 2004 and served on the UCF Alumni Board of Directors from June 2013 until mid-July 2016.<\/p>\n

The competition will air live Sept. 11 from Atlantic City\u2019s Boardwalk Hall at 9 p.m. on ABC.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Flaherty has made headlines nationwide via CNN, Good Morning America, the Huffington Post and People and Cosmopolitan magazines as the first openly gay Miss America contestant in the pageant’s nearly century-long history.<\/p>\n

The 23-year-old legal studies alumna owns and operates Rachel\u2019s Grove Boutique in Chesterfield, Missouri. A former Miss UCF, her pageant platform has always been suicide prevention, a topic of concern to her because she had a friend in high school who committed suicide. She opened up about the loss of her friend Joseph when she was a columnist for the UCF Forum<\/a> opinion series in 2013.<\/p>\n

Sexton, 23, from Starke, received an $18,000 scholarship for claiming the title of Miss Florida in early July. Sexton earned her bachelor\u2019s degree in health services administration in May 2015 and is pursuing a master\u2019s degree in health services administration.<\/p>\n

Sexton\u2019s platform is Get up! Get moving! Volunteer!, which she describes as connecting others through a cause or organization they are passionate about.<\/p>\n

According to MissAmerica.org, contestants contribute tens of thousands of community service hours annually and have raised more than $14 million for Children\u2019s Miracle Network Hospitals and Miss America scholarships since 2007.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"And the winner of this year\u2019s Miss America competition is\u2026 hopefully a Knight. This Sunday\u2019s 96th installment of the annual pageant features two UCF alumni. 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