via CNN:
The new Miss America is Nia Franklin.
Representing New York, Franklin was crowned the 92nd Miss America at Sunday’s event in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Miss Connecticut, Bridget Oei, was named first runner-up.
An opera singer, Franklin is a native of Winston-Salem, North Carolina and earned her master’s degree in music composition from UNC School of the Arts. She moved to New York after being accepted at the Kenan Fellow program at Lincoln Center Education in Manhattan.
During the competition, Franklin, who is black, described how music helped her find her identity.
“I grew up at a predominately Caucasian school and there was only five percent minority, and I felt out of place so much because of the color of my skin,” Franklin said. “But growing up, I found my love of arts, and through music that helped me to feel positive about myself and about who I was.
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