Student Competing For Miss America Title This Weekend

She's a top pre-med in the Class of 2000, a high school valedictorian, and an environmentalist. She has also been a varsity cheerleader, the founder of the University's Athletics Booster Club, a dancer, an actress, a scuba diver, an aerobics teacher, the Webmaster for Kappa Alpha Theta, and a former Kentucky Junior Miss and Miss Suffolk County (Mass.). She's taught Bible school, sings in the church choir back in her hometown of Richmond, Ky., and has done more volunteer work by age 20 than many will do in a lifetime.

Elizabeth Emerson Hancock is also Miss Massachusetts, and she's in Atlantic City this week competing in the Miss America Pageant.

Hancock is the third in what is becoming a dynasty of Harvard women who have been named Miss Massachusetts, and an example of what she hopes will become a growing trend toward academic talent in the Miss America pageant.

"In the past, people have viewed Harvard as an institution that produces people who are wholly intellectual," Hancock says. "I think that having Harvard women win shows that Harvard can produce fully rounded individuals who are self-assured enough to compete in a program like this."

Is She Nervous?

By Thursday, on the day that this issue of the Gazette hits the streets, a seven-judge panel will be secretly choosing the top ten finalists. But Hancock will have to wait two more days until the final night of competition to find out whether she's still in the running to succeed the reigning Miss America, Kate Shindle. If Hancock wins the crown, she'll receive $50,000 in scholarship money on top of her $9,000 scholarship from the Miss Massachusetts Pageant, as well as a one-year speaking tour. (ABC, including Boston's Channel 5, will air the show on Saturday from 9 to 11:30 p.m.)

Is she nervous?

"Of course not -- who could be nervous?" quips Hancock in a recent interview at the Fall River home of Ralph and Holly Deane, head volunteer organizers of the Massachusetts contingent for the Miss America system. "I'm actually really excited. It's the opportunity of a lifetime just to be there."

Since she won the Miss Massachusetts title on June 6 in Fall River, Hancock has made countless public appearances throughout the state. Some weeks the sports and charity events come almost daily, and the busiest days can include two or three appearances. She says she is sometimes recognized outside the appearance circuit, but celebrity hasn't been a problem so far. "I don't usually wear the crown to the grocery store, so we don't usually have trouble fighting off crowds," she jokes.

Hancock looks a lot like the girl next door -- white cut-offs, a blue T-shirt that matches her eyes, black platform sandals, and blonde hair pulled back in a white "scrunchee." It's a comfortable contrast to the royal blue evening gown with train and slit that she'll be wearing in Atlantic City. Though she takes her appearance seriously, doing regular workouts to keep fit and work off pre-pageant stress, she says looks aren't the most important part of the competition.

"You want to look nice on stage, but really the Miss America pageant isn't a beauty pageant," Hancock says with a slight Southern drawl. "You get women who are talented and intelligent and articulate. When you get right down to it, I guess they're the most beautiful of all."

Ralph Deane says the Miss America system's main focus is scholarships. The largest scholarship program in the world, Miss America distributed $32 million last year at local-, state-, and national-level competitions.

Proud Predecessors

Marcia Murray '97, formerly Marcia Turner -- Miss Massachusetts 1995 -- made the top ten in Atlantic City and will be rooting for Hancock this time around.

"When I was at Miss America, the caliber of the contestants impressed me," says Murray, who currently manages a charitable foundation. But, she adds, talent and intelligence are still not the focus of many viewers, and that needs to change.

She hopes to go to the pageant this week to cheer on Hancock, whom she met while emceeing the state pageant in June. "Anyone who hears her speak will be very impressed," Murray says.

Before Murray, Harvard student Sharon Lee won the state title in 1993. Hancock is conscious of continuing the Harvard tradition in the contest and of the "wonderful opportunity" that she has earned. But she also tries to keep the competition in perspective.

"This is a very big thing," she says, "but I know I'll be doing bigger things in my life." Things like a possible career in medicine and public health, for which she is preparing by majoring in environmental science and public policy. Environmental protection and education make up Hancock's platform issue for the interview portion of the Miss America pageant.

Tap-dancing Around Tough Questions

Her brief statement centers on "SEED," a proposed environmental awareness and protection program she's developed after much study and consultation with environmental experts, including the Massachusetts Environmental Affairs Secretary. The acronym stands for "Sow," to plant seeds of understanding around the ideals of conservation, preservation, and selfless concern; "Enrich," to educate the public about the state of the environment; "Empower," to reward businesses and individuals for good environmental stewardship; and "Develop," to build communication among government, individuals, and corporations to facilitate environmental protection.

"I've been very interested in the area of green-space preservation," Hancock says.

She is well aware from previous pageants that all the judges' questions may not relate to her platform. She says she's hitting the 'Net nightly to study up on current events, but even that may not help in the end. "I've been asked to make up a cheer for the Miss Massachusetts pageant; I've been asked to describe a rainbow to a blind person; and I've been asked whether I'd rather be the President or the First Lady," she says, adding dryly, "Right now, neither one."

For the talent competition this week, Hancock is performing a theatrical piece from 42nd Street with a strong tap dance part. She says it's her favorite role, and one she's been lucky enough to rehearse for several years with actress Peggy Lee Brennan, who played the role in the Broadway play.

For the bathing suit competition, she'll wear a turquoise two-piece suit whose top reminds her of a zip-up scuba outfit.

The swimsuit and evening gown competitions each count for 15 percent of contestants' scores, while the talent portion is 40 percent and the interview 30 percent.

Hancock says her parents, her younger sister, Meg, and many friends will be at the pageant cheering her along, although her family had to miss the Miss Massachusetts pageant because Meg was participating in (and winning) the Madison County Junior Miss pageant back home that night. Also attending will be Hancock's boyfriend, Scott, a Harvard sophomore she met in a mathematics class. "They've all been very supportive," she says.

Whether or not she becomes Miss America, Hancock says, "If I get to come back here and have another good year at school and with my friends, well that'll be just fine. I don't think there's any way that I really can lose."