This post was originally published on Afro
By Micha Green
Broadcast journalist Elle Smith, 23, a Black woman representing Kentucky, was crowned Miss USA 2021 on Nov. 29 and will go on to represent the United States at the 70th Miss Universe pageant in Israel on Dec. 12.
Born Ellen Elizabeth Smith in Springfield, Ohio, the pageant queen, nicknamed Elle, competed against her Shawnee High School classmate currently serving as Miss Ohio.
The current Miss USA became a Kentucky girl when she went to University of Kentucky in Lexington and majored in broadcast journalism with a minor in political science. Smith, who was the vice president of the University of Kentucky in Lexington’s National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Chapter, graduated from the institution in May 2020.