When Miss Rhode Island wakes up every morning, she thinks of her role model Eleanor Roosevelt’s famous quote, “Do one thing every day that scares you.”

And whether that one thing is advocating for female leadership, competing in front of thousands of strangers or keeping her cool during a setback, she follows Roosevelt’s advice.

Before she was named Miss Rhode Island 2015, Allie Curtis graduated from Syracuse University a year earlier with a bachelor of science in public relations and political science. During her time at SU, Curtis led the Student Association as president during the 2013-2014 school year. Now, she’s a master’s candidate at Brown University.

She won’t know if she’s America’s pageant queen until the Miss America finale Sept. 13, which will be aired at 9 p.m. on ABC. She’ll be reminded of her roots on the Hill, as fellow SU alumna Vanessa Williams is one of the competition’s judges. In the final round, Miss America contestants are judged based on lifestyle and fitness in swimsuit, evening wear, talent, an on-stage question, a composite score and final ballot.

Curtis began competing in pageants when she was in the eighth grade after she received a flyer in the mail. Since then, she has become a pageant pro. She took her first stab at a Miss America-sponsored event in her junior year at SU, when she was crowned Miss Upstate New York.

When Curtis was crowned Miss Rhode Island in at the end of May, she performed “Poor Unfortunate Souls,” a song from “The Little Mermaid.”

As Miss Rhode Island, Curtis’ responsibilities include activities such as throwing the first pitch at a Pawtucket Red Sox game to fundraising for pageants. Unlike many of her Miss America competitors, Curtis said she has the added challenge of being a student; she even took a trip to Sweden this summer to study health policy as part of her public affairs studies.

 

Despite her increased involvement in pageants, Curtis is still pursuing her political aspirations, and applying what she learns in competition along the way.

While the worlds of politics and pageants appear to be opposites on the surface, what drives Curtis to pursue both are her loves of public service and rallying communities.

“Taking a passionate stance, being a diplomat in many ways — those are qualities of Miss America and those are qualities of an effective leader,” Curtis said.

Another area of overlap between pageants and politics is fundraising, Curtis said. Many women are uncomfortable raising money for political campaigns, so Curtis said that pageants are a great way to break down that barrier.

Between getting her master’s, competing in pageants and occasionally being on TV, Curtis leads a non-stop lifestyle. One priority she said she always has time for, though, is promoting her campaign platform: Leading Ladies, which is an effort she hopes will strengthen leadership among females from middle school to college.

“If I feel strongly about something, there’s no stopping me,” Curtis said. “I go with my heart of hearts.”

This platform is not a new goal for Curtis — she’s been advocating for female leadership since starting the Elect Her program at SU with fellow alumna Adrianna Kam. The organization focuses on encouraging girls and women to run for student government positions and get involved in elected office positions.

Steve Johnsen, Curtis’s longtime friend who she met at a leadership conference in high school, said he became inspired to improve women’s leadership after seeing Curtis in action.

“It’s not just a tagline for her,” Johnsen said of her Leading Ladies platform. “This is her life mission, this is her life goal. To help people, and especially to help women become leaders.”

As SA president, Curtis herself had to face the challenges of being a female leader at SU.

Her presidency came with its share of controversy and opposition. She faced criticism for allowing a student who was on a leave of absence to serve as SA’s public relations director and was nearly impeached.

“Allie is one of the strongest people I think this campus has ever seen,” Kam said. “The whole campus knew this woman was keeping her head up… I don’t know many people who could do that.”

Aside from the impeachment trial, Kam said Curtis faced additional criticism for being a woman. A student said Curtis was only elected for being pretty — a comment that demonstrates the negative attitude toward female leaders that Curtis and Kam are hoping to end with Elect Her.

After Miss America, Curtis plans on continuing her studies and political career. In fall of 2016, she’ll start earning her next master’s degree in administration of justice and homeland security with a focus in cybersecurity and intelligence. One day, Curtis said she hopes to serve on the committee of homeland security in Congress.

Said Curtis: “A reason I’m so passionate about running is I feel there’s a void about something in my government or community, and I feel I can fill that void.”

Published on September 9, 2015 at 10:12 pm

Contact Alex: aerdekia@syr.edu