UC's ROYAL COEDS
Meet Miss
America 2000, bright, beautiful and a Bearcat
Talented
freshman is America's Junior Miss 1999
UC's
state pageant winners
Meet
Miss America 2000:
bright, beautiful and a Bearcat
by Mary Niehaus
Success! In her fourth try
for the title, UC graduate student Heather Renee French Henry, DAAP '97, is Miss America 2000.
"This is such a dream come true," she told reporters after receiving her
crown. "It's like a Cinderella story. I don't know whether to laugh or cry."
Mostly, the new Miss America is smiling. A young woman with great spirit, Heather
is enjoying substantial benefits: a $40,000 scholarship, up to $200,000 for personal
appearances and speaking fees, and a complete wardrobe from New York designers like
Kasper and Anne Klein. Acing the national swimsuit competition and honored for her "quality of life" speaker's platform on behalf of homeless Vietnam veterans
garnered another $2,500.
French readily acknowledges that it takes more than brains, beauty and talent to
be Miss America. Self confidence, perseverance, maturity and the ability to think
clearly and articulate one's thoughts are essential. Her co-op experience at UC helped
develop these traits.
"Heather co-oped in a St. Louis design firm," her mother, Diana French,
points out. "What she experienced there really helped her become a more mature,
well-rounded person. She worked in graphic design, but she also helped with a promotional
tape showing businesses how to interview people for jobs. That is Heather's strong
point, the interview."
During questioning by pageant co-host Marie Osmond, French-Henry projected friendliness
and poise. Osmond acknowledged the student's involvement in numerous musical, artistic
and teaching projects, and asked whether French feared being labeled a "jack
of all trades, master of none." "No," she replied. "In today's
world, you have to be able to do many things well." Audience members applauded
her comment that "when you stop learning, you stop living."
Heather also drew applause from DAAP's Dean Jay Chatterjee when she took time on national
television to describe her college by its full name: Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning. Osmond had mistakenly referred
to the university's "jazz" college.
Grace Meacham, professor of fashion design at UC, vouches for the new Miss America's
persevering spirit, noting that "in this day and age, it's very different to
find a student with this kind of drive." She has been part of the fashion
design program for seven years, first as an undergrad and, currently, as an instructor
in fashion drawing and author of a textbook -- still in process -- about the history
of fashion design and illustration.
Taking a year's sabbatical in order to fulfill personal appearance and speaking obligations,
French-Henry travels about 20,000 miles a month. In her first week as Miss America, she
appeared on "Good Morning America," "The Donny and Marie Show,"
"Later Today" and "David Letterman."
"I miss the UC campus," she admits. "I went back and saw all my
professors and my students after I won the Miss Kentucky title. I told them I'd be
back in a year."
LINKS
Life after the crown for Heather Renee French Henry
Read about about UC's Miss America 2008
Next page | Talented freshman is America's Junior
Miss 1999