A 2007 graduate of Elon University will compete for the Miss America crown in Las Vegas next year after winning the Miss North Carolina pageant. Katherine Southard, a double major in business administration and dance, took top honors during the weekend competition in Raleigh after finishing 2nd runner up in 2008.

Katherine Southard

Southard graduated magna cum laude and made the Dean's and President's Lists. She was a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, the national business honor society, and Gamma Sigma Alpha, a Greek honor society. She was also an Isabella Cannon Leadership Fellow.

Southard has focused her effort on promoting awareness of scoliosis, which affects the curvature of the spine. Diagnosed with the condition during middle school, Southard slept in a brace every night to keep up her daily activities, including dance, cheerleading and pageant competitions.

She won the Miss Mecklenburg County title in 2005 and was named a "preliminary swimsuit winner" and a "most talented non-finalist" at Miss North Carolina in 2005. Southard was named 2nd runner up in the 2008 competition.

Southard underwent surgery in 2006 to correct the 72-degree spinal curve that threatened to impede her pulmonary and respiratory functions. By August of the following year she had completed her double major, returned to dance and was competing in pageants again.

Southard plans to travel throughout North Carolina to inform and educate scoliosis patients about the disease. She also hopes to raise awareness using her platform: "Scoliosis: Ahead of the Curve." She has a schedule of appearances she will make during the months before the Miss America pageant in January.

- Sarah Costello '11