“Brains and beauty rolled into one”: Newly crowned Miss USA got her start in Virginia Beach
VIRGINIA BEACH
The people who knew Kára McCullough as a child and teen in Virginia Beach agree: There is no better person to be named Miss USA.McCullough, a 2009 graduate of Salem High School, entered the Miss USA pageant as Miss District of Columbia, but she grew up in Virginia Beach in a Navy family. She attended Glenwood Elementary School and Salem middle and high schools. She’s a member of Mount Bethel Baptist Church on Indian River Road, where her mother is a pastor.
“She’s the whole package,” said Angela Jones, one of McCullough’s former high school basketball coaches. “They couldn’t have given it to a better person.”
At Salem High School, McCullough was quiet but dedicated. She split her time between studies and basketball, which she played all four years and was named junior varsity captain her sophomore year. She ran track her junior and senior years, and was with the Future Business Leaders of America organization and Key Club.
She didn’t talk about pageants back then, Jones said. Her eyes were on college.
McCullough attended South Carolina State University to study chemistry. While there, she was crowned Miss South Carolina State University in 2012.
After graduating in 2013, she became a radiochemist at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
In the Miss USA pageant, McCullough caught viewers’ attention in the national pageant for choosing to wear her curly hair naturally during the pageant and for her answers to interview questions. She rejected the label of feminist, saying she preferred the word “equalist.” She also said she believed health care was a privilege, not a right, during the pageant, but later backtracked.
Anne Sye, former assistant principal at Glenwood Elementary and a church member at Mount Bethel, said McCullough’s passion for science makes her special in the pageant world.
“To see a female in the science field, to me, is a tremendous plus,” Sye said. “She’s a steadfast person and an outstanding student.”
McCullough started a community outreach program, Science Exploration for Kids, which works with students from sixth through 11th grades. It helps them complete science projects and offers tutoring. As Miss USA, she said, she’d like to expand the program to include high school students in the hopes of encouraging them to pursue science in college, according to the Miss USA website.
“It’s very positive, she has all of that going on,” Jones said. “Brains and beauty rolled into one.”
Most who know McCullough also remember her kindness. Soon after being crowned Miss District of Columbia USA, she returned to Virginia Beach to attend the funeral of Jones’ father. He coached Salem’s basketball team while McCullough was there and she wanted to help with the service, Jones said.
“You couldn’t ask for a better person,” Jones said.
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