Saturday, June 29, 2002
By The Leader-Chicago Bureau
Erika Harold, Miss Illinois 2002, will be competing in the Miss America contest in September
OAK BROOK TERRACE Harvard Law School will need to wait a year for one of its incoming freshmen.
Erika Harold, Miss Illinois 2002, will be competing in the Miss America contest in September
Standing on a platform of teen abstinence, 22 year-old Erika Harold of Urbana was crowned 2002 Miss Illinois on Friday night.
Now Erika takes her message to Atlantic City, representing Illinois in the Miss America contest this September.
During the week of competitions, held at the Drury Lane Conference Center in Oak Brook Terrace, Erika won first place in the talent competitions, singing Carmen's aria for mezzo-soprano, "La'Mour."
A recent graduate of University of Illinois -- Champaign/Urbana, Erika was accepted at five different law schools for the fall semester. She has enrolled at Harvard School of Law, but her first year of law school will now be delayed as she prepares for her reign as Miss Illinois, and to compete in the Miss America contest in September.
With the title of Miss Illinois, she wins a $25,000 scholarship to the school of her choice.
Erika has been a representative to schools throughout Illinois, promoting the abstinence message through Project Reality. She has lobbied in Springfield and Washington, D.C. for abstinence education funding, and during the 2002 Republican gubernatorial primary, she led the statewide college program for State Senator Patrick O'Malley's primary gubernatorial campaign.
Erika's 20-year-old sister, Alexandra, won third runner-up.
To read Illinois Leaders' exclusive interview with Miss Illinois 2002, see Urbana's Miss Illinois Contestant Stands on Abstinence Issue