Organizers wanted to make it clear the 99th Miss America competition isn’t your grandmother’s beauty pageant, and their winner did just that on Thursday.
Virginia biochemist Camille Schrier, 24, won the crown just minutes after wowing the crowd with science. Dressed in a lab coat, she gave a colorful chemistry demonstration of the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide.
Camille, a native of Pennsylvania, said she hopes to ‘break stereotypes about what it means to be a Miss America in 2020’ by being a ‘woman of science’ who is authentic to herself.
‘I’m not the beauty queen,’ she said. ‘I’m the brand ambassador for this organization and I’m more than just someone with a crown on my head.’
Virginia biochemist Camille Schrier, 24, looked overwhelmed with emotion after being crowned Miss America
The 24-year-old wowed the judges and crowd by performing a science experiment on stage, and insisted she was ‘not a beauty queen’
During her experiment, Camille demonstrated the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide — also known as the ‘elephant toothpaste’ reaction.
The reaction, when combining hydrogen peroxide with potassium iodide, produces copious amounts of foam out of beakers, giving the appearance of toothpaste an elephant might use.
Camille shared the experiment onstage while outfitted in a white lab coat and safety googles.
Three beakers featuring hydrogen peroxide mixtures in red, blue and green were ready for Camille to add to in order to create the fun explosion onstage for the judges and audience.
As well as the crown, Camille won a $50,000 scholarship and the ‘job’ of Miss America, a one-year paid position they hope to use as a public platform for their ‘social impact initiative.’
She also explained each step to the audience, as foam exploded upward from each beaker.
The risk appeared to pay off for Camille, as she was crowned Miss America at the end of the competition.
Victoria Hill of Georgia placed first runner-up.
No longer called contestants, the 51 women ‘candidates,’ who hailed from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, competed for a $50,000 scholarship and the ‘job’ of Miss America, a one-year paid position they hope to use as a public platform for their ‘social impact initiative.’
Incredible: The biochemist performed an experiment onstage for the audience where she demonstrated how hydrogen peroxide can decompose with a catalyst
The biochemist has previously revealed she dreams of being like Bill NYE the science guy, by making the subject fun for children
For the second year in a row, women were not judged in a swimsuit or how they look in an evening gown.
Instead, a series of interviews and talent demonstrations will determine who is best qualified to wear this year’s crown.
Camille, who spoke on stage about having tackled an eating disorder, said she decided to compete for Miss America after the swimsuit competition was ditched, along with other changes that have been made to modernize the organization.
She revealed: ‘I kind of figured that I would never get on that stage because I was a woman who did not want to get into a swimsuit on stage.
The biochemist wowed the crowd with her wild and wacky science experiments throughout the competition
‘And I didn´t have a performing talent, which is really ironic now,’ she said, adding how she’s the first Miss America to win with a science experiment, a presentation she brings to schools.
Camille is a cum laude graduate of Virginia Tech with dual bachelor of science degrees in bio chemistry and systems biology and she is currently studying to obtain a doctor of pharmacy degree. Her platform issue is drug safety.
Morgan Nichols, Miss South Carolina, had her own message on Thursday night. She walked down the red carpet wearing a billowing, long skirt topped by a plain white T-shirt that read: ‘Stronger.’
Camille also opened up on stage about how she overcame an eating disorder in her younger years (pictured at the competition)
When asked on stage whether the Miss America organization should change even more and allow married women and women with children to participate, both Camille and Victoria said no.
Camille told reporters afterward that she believes the job would be too busy for a mother.
‘I’m trying to be like Bill Nye [the science guy],’ Camille said previously in a university blog. ‘That’s what I’m going for. I want to get kids excited, but I don’t want it to be boring.’
The student, who grew up in Pennsylvania, hope she can be a role model for other people interested in a career in science.
She said she was inspired to enter the pageant after the swimsuit section of the competition was ditched
‘I didn’t have that kind of role model who had gone through the same experiences that I had of being an undergrad in a science career,’ she said.
‘And now I’m in a graduate program. It’s not easy [getting a science degree] and I want to be that person to go out there and encourage and show them that I did it. And so can you.’
This year marked the first time the multi-day event is being held at Mohegan Sun, a tribal casino and entertainment complex in suburban southeastern Connecticut.
Miss America organizers announced plans this summer to leave Atlantic City, New Jersey – for the second time in its history.
Camille appeared amazed by the result as she was told she had won the title of Miss America 2020 in Connecticut last night
Miss America also switched from ABC back to NBC to broadcast the glitzy finale to an estimated 4.5 million viewers. And for the first time, preliminary events and the finale – held in Mohegan’s 10,000-seat arena – are being streamed live on the NBC app.
‘We’ve had many, many large events. This probably reaches the most people,’ said Jeff Hamilton, president and general manager of Mohegan Sun. ‘We’re just really, really excited about it.’
Miss America organizers and NBC have not yet agreed to a multi-year contract with the Connecticut casino. A decision is expected in the coming months.
The pageant winner has spoken about her dream to take her science experiment around the country to help children get excited about science
Camille was comforted by other contestants as she was announced the winner of the competition
Camille appeared completely overwhelmed by joy when she was crowned Miss America 2020
Camille succeeds 2019 Miss America Nia Franklin, a classically trained opera singer from New York.
The decision to drop the swimsuit competition did create great controversy and criticism of Miss America officials, including former board chair and former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who said in 2018 that Miss America would represent ‘a new generation of female leaders focused on scholarship, social impact, talent and empowerment.’ Carlson has since stepped down.
Atlantic City businessmen came up with the idea for a pageant in 1921 as a way to extend the summer tourism season beyond Labor Day weekend.
It became synonymous with the New Jersey seaside resort but moved to Las Vegas in 2005, returning to Atlantic City in 2013.
Camille said she was ‘more than just a beauty queen’ and instead called herself ‘the brand ambassador for this organization ‘
The Miss America winner suggested she was ‘more than just someone with a crown on my head.’