EDISON, NJ - Chhavi Verg, 20, of Edison, was recently crowned Miss New Jersey, and she will go on to compete in this year's Miss USA pageant. If Verg wins, she would be the first Indian-American woman in the history of the pageant to be crowned Miss USA.
"That's one of the reasons why winning this pageant is so important to me," Verg told Patch. "I want to not only break stereotypes about South Asians, but I also want to represent the changing face of America and what it means to be American."
Verg grew up in Edison Township, home to a thriving Indian-American community, and she is a graduate of J.P. Stevens High School. She's currently a sophomore at Rutgers, where she's majoring in marketing and finance. She modeled as a teen, and and competed in Miss New Jersey Teen USA 2015, so moving on to the national Miss USA pageant was a natural next step.
She told an Indian-American news organization, American Bazaar, that she plans to use her title this year to help advance women’s education and end child abuse.
“I am a huge proponent of women’s education and equality so I really would like to do appearances and talks about that,” she said. Once pageant life is over, Verg said she would like to one day own her own business, in the health/fitness or beauty industry. She is a certified personal trainer and a Bharatanatyam dancer.
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Verg said she credits her family, her parents and brother pictured above, as her biggest support system and with helping her win the title of Miss New Jersey. The 2017 Miss USA pageant will be in June, but an exact date has not been announced yet.
All photos used with permission from Chhavi Verg's Facebook page.
http://patch.com/new-jersey/woodbridge/edison-woman-would-be-first-indian-american-miss-usa