Theresa Vail
Vail walking the runway in the evening gown portion of the final Miss America 2014 competition night at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., Sept. 15, 2013
Born (1990-10-01) October 1, 1990[1]
Manhattan, Kansas, U.S.
EducationLeavenworth High School
Kansas State University
University of Kansas School of Medicine
Known forFirst contestant to display tattoos in the Miss America pageant
Title"America's Choice" and Top 10, Miss America 2014
Miss Kansas 2013
AwardsInterview Award; Miss Kansas 2013
Talent Award; Miss Kansas 2013
Lifestyle and Fitness Award; Miss Kansas 2013
Top 5 Interview; Miss America 2014
Top 10; Miss America 2014
America's Choice Award; Miss America 2014
Military career
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service2007–present
Rank Sergeant

Theresa Marie Vail (born October 1, 1990) is Miss Kansas 2013. She subsequently placed in the top ten of the Miss America 2014 pageant, where she became the first contestant to openly display tattoos (during the swimsuit competition) and won the "America's Choice" award. Vail later hosted programs for the Outdoor Channel.

Background

Vail graduated in 2009 from Leavenworth High School, Leavenworth, Kansas.[2] She began her education at Kansas State University in 2009, before taking a leave of absence when she became Miss Kansas in 2013.[1][2][3][4] After finishing her year as Miss Kansas, and briefly hosting programs for the Outdoor Channel, Vail returned to Kansas State[5] where she completed her B.A. in Psychology in 2016,[6] a second B.S. in chemistry, and a master's degree in Psychology in 2018.[7] She planned to begin medical school at the University of Kansas School of Medicine in the summer of 2018.[8]

Vail is a mechanic and section leader in the Kansas Army National Guard Medical Detachment.[3][9]

Pageants

Miss Kansas, Theresa Vail, waits with other contestants during the Miss America Competition.

Vail competed in the Miss Leavenworth County Pageant in 2012, one of the local competitions a titleholder must win in order to move on to Miss Kansas.[10][11] As she considered archery to be her skill,[3] she had assumed that this is what she would do for the talent portion of the competition. A few days before preparing to compete, however, she found out that "projectile objects were forbidden" and that she had to choose a new talent or drop out of the competition.[2][3] Vail began to search "YouTube for opera songs to perform" because she felt that she "couldn't sing anything contemporary"[2] and might as well go big or go home. From this search, she chose to sing the aria "Nessun dorma." Vail states that she had "never sung opera in my life [...] I had an appreciation for it [...] and I sang soprano in choir back in high school, but I hadn't sung since then and certainly never opera."[3]

After winning Miss Leavenworth County, she went on to compete and win the Miss Kansas title on June 8, 2013.[2][12]

She next competed (as Miss Kansas) in the Miss America 2014 contest with the platform "Empowering Women: Overcoming Stereotypes and Breaking Barriers."[1][4] This was inspired by the way that outdoor sports with her father helped her to overcome being bullied as a child: "I was bullied when I was a kid. It got so bad that I nearly took my own life... My dad [an Army dentist stationed in Germany] started taking me hunting with him and it saved my life."[3][13] Vail stated that her primary goal at the Miss America pageant was to set an example, stating in a Twitter message: "Win or not tonight, I have accomplished what I set out to do. I have empowered women. I have opened eyes."[14][15] She further commented that one of her goals was to break stereotypes.[3]

The Miss America Pageant began with her win of the "America's Choice," award, which automatically positioned her as one of the 15 semifinalists.[16][17] Vail then passed the swimsuit competition, in which she became the first Miss America contestant to openly display tattoos, one being the Serenity Prayer along the right side of her torso.[18][19][20][21]

Miss Kansas, Theresa Vail, waves to the crowd during the swimsuit portion of the Miss America competition.
Miss Kansas, Theresa Vail, walks the stage during the swimsuit portion of the Miss America competition.

She then placed into the Top 10, after passing the evening gown portion of the contest.[22] Vail was eliminated from the pageant, however, after the talent portion in which she performed the aria "Nessun Dorma", and did not make it into the Top 5.[22] Both Kansas Journalist Diana Reese (in The Washington Post) and Lisa Gutierrez (in The Wichita Eagle ) focused on Vail's lack of formal training as an opera singer, rather than her tattoos, as the reason why she was not chosen for the top five.[23][24]

Though she did not win the Miss America crown, Vail said that she enjoyed the experience. In an interview the day after the Miss America contest, she stated that she had become good friends with the winner, Miss New York, Nina Davuluri, and felt "very confident in her ability to do the job."[16] Despite this fact, there was a backlash of xenophobic and racist comments in social media against Davuluri shortly after she was crowned Miss America 2014 that invoked images of, and comparisons with, Vail.[25][26] Vail denounced this response on her blog and in interviews.[13][27]

Vail continued to serve as Miss Kansas until she was succeeded by Amanda Sasek in 2014.[28][29]

Outdoor Channel

Vail began to host Limitless with Theresa Vail for the Outdoor Channel in July 2015.[30][31]

On May 26, 2015, while filming an episode for the show near Holy Cross, Alaska, an incident occurred when Vail was with master guide Michael Wade Renfro, and assistant guide Joseph Andrew Miller of Renfro's Alaska Adventures. According to the Associated Press, "The hunting party spotted the bear and sow, and at Miller's direction, Vail fired at the bear. At his command she chambered another round, fired a second shot and hit the sow. Both bears died. According to prosecutors, Miller contacted Renfro, and a collective decision was made to obtain a second grizzly bear tag. Renfro, according to the criminal complaint, packed the second tag in a bag, flew over the group and dropped it out of a Piper PA-18 airplane. Miller attached the invalid tag to the second bear. Vail signed the second bear tag and backdated it to May 26.... Renfro and Miller as guides are required to contact authorities to report illegally taken game, according to the complaint. The film crew reported June 3 to Alaska Wildlife Troopers what had happened."[32] The three were subsequently charged with misdemeanors.[33] At a change of plea hearing on 1/6/16 in Aniak, Alaska, Vail pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against her Alaskan guides....[34]

Vail subsequently left Limitless with Theresa Vail and began to host another program for the Outdoor Channel, NRA All Access, in early 2016, which she continued until starting medical school.[33][34][35]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Miss Kansas 2013 Theresa Vail". Miss Kansas. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 John Richmeier. "Leavenworth High grad enjoys Miss America experience". Leavenworth Times. Retrieved September 28, 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Miss America's Sgt. Theresa Vail Is First Contestant to Expose Tattoos". People Magazine. September 10, 2013.
  4. 1 2 "Miss America: Miss Kansas 2013 Theresa Vail". Miss America Organization. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  5. ↑ Vail, Theresa (March 22, 2016). "Theresa Vail's Official Facebook page". Facebook. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  6. ↑ Vail, Theresa (August 8, 2016). "Theresa Vail's Official Facebook page". Facebook. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  7. ↑ Vail, Theresa (August 26, 2016). "Theresa Vail's Official Facebook page". Facebook. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  8. ↑ Vail, Theresa (March 18, 2018). "Theresa Vail's Official Facebook page". Facebook. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  9. ↑ Cavaliere, Victoria (September 12, 2013). "Miss America hopeful is a national guard sergeant - with tattoos". Reuters.
  10. ↑ Jacqueline Urgo (September 13, 2013). "Combat boots, tattoos, and a Miss Kansas pageant sash". Philly.com.
  11. ↑ PHOTO Miss Kansas Theresa Vail’s tattoo from Miss America swimsuit prelims
  12. ↑ Pearce, Michael (June 23, 2013). "Miss Kansas opts for bowhunting whenever she can". The Wichita Eagle.
  13. 1 2 Brady, Dani (September 29, 2013). "The story behind the crown: an interview with Miss Kansas 2013". University Daily Kansan.
  14. ↑ AP (September 19, 2013). "First Indian-origin woman crowned Miss America". The Hindu.
  15. ↑ Vail, Theresa (September 15, 2013). "Theresa Vail's twitter account". Twitter.
  16. 1 2 "Supporters Welcome Back Miss Kansas". KAKE Channel 10. September 16, 2013. Archived from the original on October 17, 2013.
  17. ↑ Vote for Miss Kansas 2013 Theresa Vail - Miss America Organization
  18. ↑ "Miss Kansas interview: Theresa Vail is more than just her tattoos (video)." - The Star-Ledger, September 12, 2013
  19. ↑ Vail, Theresa (August 22, 2013). "God, Grant Me the Courage to Change the Things I Can". Miss Kansas Blog.
  20. ↑ Miss America 2013: The Inside Story - ABC News, September 15, 2013
  21. ↑ Linton, Caroline (September 14, 2013). "Miss Kansas Bares Her Tattoos". The Daily Beast.
  22. 1 2 "Miss America Crowns 2014 Winner". USA Today. September 17, 2013.
  23. ↑ Diana Reese (September 16, 2013). "Miss America pageant evolves to include all kinds of diversity". The Washington Post.
  24. ↑ LISA GUTIERREZ (September 16, 2013). "How Miss Kansas blew the Miss America crown: She sang". The Wichita Eagle.
  25. ↑ Hafiz, Yasmine (September 16, 2013). "Nina Davuluri's Miss America 2014 Win Prompts Twitter Backlash Against Indians, Muslims". Huffington Post.
  26. ↑ Ryan Broderick (September 16, 2013). "A Lot Of People Are Very Upset That An Indian-American Woman Won The Miss America Pageant". BuzzFeed. Retrieved September 29, 2013.
  27. ↑ Vail, Theresa (September 2013). "Theresa's September Blog". Miss Kansas.
  28. ↑ "Miss Greater Wichita wins Miss Kansas competition". KWCH-DT. June 8, 2014. Archived from the original on July 25, 2015.
  29. ↑ Miss Kansas Theresa Vail: One year later Archived 2014-07-14 at the Wayback Machine - KWCH-DT, June 5, 2014
  30. ↑ "Limitless with Theresa Vail". Outdoor Channel. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
  31. ↑ "Miss Kansas winner Theresa Vail will host Outdoors Channel hunting show (photos)". OregonLive.com. April 18, 2014.
  32. ↑ Associated Press (December 8, 2015). "Former Miss Kansas Theresa Vail charged with illegally killing Alaska grizzly bear". Kansas City Star.
  33. 1 2 Troopers: Outdoor Channel star helped cover up illegal Alaska bear kill, Alaska Dispatch News, Chris Klint, December 7, 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2015.
  34. 1 2 Reality T.V. host pleads guilty to killing brown bear without proper permit, Alaska Dispatch News, Lisa Demer, January 6, 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  35. ↑ "NRA All Access". Outdoor Channel. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
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