When asked during the on-stage questioning portion of the Miss West Chester University competition what song would be the soundtrack to her life, Elizabeth Toal responded that it would be “Let Me Fall,” by Josh Groban, because of the lyric “there’s a moment where fear and dreams collide.” For Toal, that moment existed on the evening of Feb 6, when she was crowned the twelfth annual Miss WCU. Toal, a third year education major, ran on the platform of fighting tobacco use on college campuses and performed a piece from a German operetta as her talent.
As Miss West Chester University, Toal plans to enlist the help of organizations such as the American College Health Association and the American Cancer Society to advocate “the destructive effects of tobacco and promote alternatives across West Chester University’s campus.” Through preventive educational programs, she hopes that smokers will realize the unmistakable winner in the battle between tobacco and life.
As part of her prize package, a portion of the ticket proceeds will be donated to this cause.
Miss WCU features a talent portion, casual wear, evening wear, and on-stage questioning, as well as an off-stage interview which, at 40 percent of the total score, is the most important part of the competition. The talent portion is worth 25 percent, with casual wear and evening wear worth 15 percent each. The on-stage question rounds out the competition at 5 percent of the total score.
Toal said that the reason she chose to participate in the Miss WCU competition because it gives women a chance to better themselves, and to help them learn to “define yourself for you.”
The runners up in the competition were Julianne Spadine, a third year elementary education major, Laura Hoover, a third year communicative disorders major, Courtney Dean, a third year English education major and Kristin Neel, a second year pharmacutical product development major.
Jenn Rothstein is a third-year English education major. She can be reached at jr649299@wcupa.edu