Most diverse field in Miss Georgia history to take the stage Saturday night

When the 54 young women vying to be Miss Georgia take the stage Saturday night at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, they will be part of a historic field seeking the title that propels the winner into the Miss America Pageant.

In its 73-year history, this appears to be the most diverse Miss Georgia pageant ever, with 15 black contestants and one Hispanic immigrant from Costa Rica. Nearly 30 percent of the women are minority.

In the past 10 years, the number has never reached 25 percent and has been as low as 8 percent in 2012, according to photographs in the official pageant programs.

The women competing have noticed the subtle difference, said Miss Cobb County Chari Guzman, the first black woman to win that local title in the pageant’s 60-year history.

“From my personal experience, to have so many women of color, it does make you feel more accepted into the program knowing there are more African-American women this year,” Guzman said. “It is like, ‘Wow, this is something that more people are becoming a part of and aware of.’”

Maloreigh Todd, from Columbus and a recent graduate of Glenwood School in Phenix City, is Miss Heart of the South, representing Jesup in the state’s southeast corner. Her platform is to promote social inclusion and diversity.

“The wonderful thing about Miss Georgia and Miss America is it brings people of different cultures and backgrounds together where we still have a common ground and enjoy time with each other,” she said.

Diversity in the Miss Georgia pageant is far from new. In 2004, Miss Atlanta Danica Tisdale was the first black woman to wear the crown and represent Georgia in Miss America. In 2008, Miss Capital City Chasity Hardman of Columbus won the Miss Georgia title and finished first runner-up in the Miss America Pageant.

Mansfield Bias of Columbus has been involved with the Miss Georgia pageant for 37 years and has served as president for the past 27 years. When he looks at the field, he doesn’t see color.

“I see a diverse group of girls,” he said earlier this week. “I don’t think of them as one color or another. I really don’t.”

But the diversity of this year’s field underscores that Miss Georgia is doing something right, Bias said.

“We are appealing across all racial lines and all cultural diversity,” he said. “... We have all kinds of diversity, not only in skin color, but in the types of talent. It shows me that we are doing something right. We are getting girls of all backgrounds.”

The diversity truly is reflected in ways other than race, said Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson, who is one of five judges for this year’s pageant.

“To me, the diversity is much more than what is physical or what is obvious,” she said. “In the interview questions, you see a difference of perspective. Some of them will have very different answers to similar questions. It may be because of geography. Someone from the southeast Georgia coast may see it differently than someone from the mountains of the northwest corner or someone from the urban areas.”

Tomlinson has interviewed each contestant this week. She said most of the women are well versed on current events because of the weight the interview questions carry in the overall judging. It is 25 percent of the total judging.

“You can talk to them about pop culture or politics or a news article and you can find they have vastly different perspectives,” Tomlinson said. “You realize that everybody is not digesting it the same way.”

And that is because their backgrounds can be vastly different.

Rosa Campos is a Costa Rican immigrant who moved to this country with her parents when she was 4. She was raised in Buford and is competing as Miss Stone Mountain.

“When people think about pageants, they think of a certain mold, a certain way you have to look,” she said. “... For me, if there is anyone who has thought they can’t do this, I want to show them they can. It doesn’t matter where they come from. My family is from Costa Rica and I come from a low-income family. And I am still here. I am as qualified as these other women. Diversity doesn’t just have to do with skin color or race.”

One of the reasons many of these women are here this weekend is because of the scholarship money that is available. There is more than $2 million, including $80,000 in cash, available to the contestants this week.

Cassie Myers, a former Miss Columbus, was a Miss Georgia contestant in 2011 and now serves vice president of media for the pageant.

“The way I explain it to people is that the girls who compete here, this is there sport,” Myers said. “You are really good at basketball, you are really good at tennis, or football, or soccer and you can go to school on a scholarship. Maybe these girls are not great at soccer or football or basketball. This is their chance to earn that scholarship money so they don’t have to take out a ton of student loans.”

There is no question that is the appeal, Guzman said.

“Coming from a student who is paying for school for herself, it is a blessing to work yourself through the program and pay for school,” she said. “I am the youngest of five children. Taking all of that financial burden off my parents and to be able to pay for a full year of school, you can’t ask for anything better.”

Campos has attended North Georgia College and will be transferring to Brenau University in the fall.

“I am going into my third year, and I am completely debt-free in school and it’s because of this organization,” said Campos, who is the first in her family to attend college. “It is a burden off my parents.”

Todd, who will enroll at Georgia Tech in the fall, competed in the Miss Teen Georgia competition for the past two years and has received more than $2,000 in cash scholarships in her short pageant career.

“It is good to realize that the financial burden is beginning to be taken off myself and my family,” she said. “I have a younger brother and they are going to pay for his schooling as well. To be able to lighten that load on my family is important.”

And the women, from all corners of Georgia, are participating for a variety of other reasons, Oz Roberts said.

“I am a huge Miss America program proponent,” Roberts said. “At times, it has gotten a bad rap because it is lumped together with other pageants that are not as well rounded. Miss America promotes physical fitness, platforms that require community service hours, talent and educational opportunities. I have gone to med school graduations of former Miss Georgia’s and I know they have used the scholarship money wisely.”

This story was originally published June 16, 2017 at 4:30 PM with the headline "Most diverse field in Miss Georgia history to take the stage Saturday night."