The one thing the Miss America Pageant didn’t need three weeks before it is held in Atlantic City, New Jersey, was controversy, but an idea spawned by Gretchen Carlson, the pageant’s CEO, has spread like wildfire, and the flames reached Jackson, Monday.
Simply put, Tom Hensley, the CEO of the Miss Tennessee Pageant, said the Miss America Pageant has been ‘hijacked,’ during a press conference at the Carl Perkins Civic Center.
“It is something we have worked so hard for all of our lives,” Hensley said about the Miss Tennessee Pageant as it relates to the Miss Tennessee Pageant. “We built the program, and we feel it’s something good for young women, and it’s something little girls aspire to be when they grow up.”
Girls like Cara Mund, the reigning Miss America.
Mund wrote a letter that states states the rhetoric about empowering women, and openness and transparency, is great; but the reality is quite different – a difference she said she is living.
In her letter that has gained national attention, Mund wrote, “When I became Miss America, there were three things I truly looked forward to: using my voice, working on behalf of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and being an example of an empowered young woman of my generation. Let me be blunt: I strongly believe that my voice is not heard nor wanted to by our current leadership; nor do they have any interest in knowing who I am and how my experiences relate to positioning the organization for the future. I truly felt more valued, respected, and viewed as a real collaborator within my first three months rather than these last eight months. The differences are stark.”
Gretchen Carlson, Miss America, 1989, is an American television commentator, author, and is the chairwoman of the Miss America board of directors.
Regina Hopper, Miss Arkansas 1983, is the organization’s president & CEO.
“They (Carlson and Hopper) have made changes,” Hensley said. “They’ve thrown people off the board. We have heard all we want of Gretchen Carlson.”
Mund of North Dakota, spoke out about what she described as a lack of respect toward herself from the new board, stating the board has “silenced me, reduced me, marginalized me, and essentially erased me in my role as Miss America.”
Since her letter, Mund has received a groundswell of support from former Miss America winners – and state pageants.
Jimmy Exum, president of the Miss Tennessee Scholarship Pageant, joined Hensley during the press conference.
Exum said Carlson, who has taken complete control of the Miss America Pageant, is not representative of the Miss Tennessee Pageant.
“There have been 26 states have signed a petition for (Gretchen) Carlson and (Regina) Hopper to step aside,” Exum said. “I don’t know the exact number, but I do know 20 plus Miss Americas have signed a petition, and Kelly Cash Sheppard, Miss Tennessee in 1986 and Miss America in 1987, is one of the ladies.”
Exum said he doesn’t know what to expect when the Miss America Pageant is held in September.
“All the qualifications changed,” Exum said. “So, When these girls go to Atlantic City, they don’t really know what to expect, and we certainly don’t know what to expect – but we’ll (continue to) have a Miss Tennessee Pageant.”
Jimmy Eldridge, a state representative from Jackson, considered the controversy from another angle.
“Think of the economic impact it has on Jackson, Madison County and the state of Tennessee,” Eldridge said. “People come from all over the country to Jackson in June to see the pageant, and this civic center is packed. A majority of the visitors stay in hotels, shop, and eat at restaurants, all of which has a major positive impact on our city.”
(PHOTO: State Representative Jimmy Eldridge, left, visits with Tom Hensley, center, and Jimmy Exum at the Carl Perkins Civic Center, Monday)
David Thomas, Twitter – @DavidThomasWNWS
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