Cierra Kaler-Jones
Cierra Kaler-Jones | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Cierra Kaler-Jones May 29, 1993 |
| Education | Rutgers University |
| Title | Miss New Jersey 2014 Miss Atlantic County Miss Northern Lakes, Miss Cape Shores Miss Coastal Shore |
| Predecessor | Cara McCollum (Miss New Jersey) |
| Successor | Lindsey Giannini (Miss New Jersey) |
Cierra Kaler-Jones (born May 29, 1993) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who was crowned Miss New Jersey 2014.[1] She is the second African American to win the title of Miss New Jersey after Suzette Charles in 1983. Her heritage also includes Native American, Irish, Filipino and German ancestry.[2][3]
Background[]
Kaler-Jones is from Galloway Township, New Jersey[3] and attended Absegami High School.[4] Kaler-Jones is a graduate of Rutgers University where she majored in Social Work with concentrations in Women's & Gender Studies, and Critical & Comparative Race & Ethnic Studies.[5] She attended Rutgers as a first generation college student.[1][3][4] In addition, she spent her first three years at Rutgers on the nationally ranked Rutgers University Dance Team and worked as a research assistant in the Rutgers School of Social Work and has interned with the ACLU of New Jersey and the criminal justice division of the state attorney general's office.[3]
She is currently a graduate student in Education and Human Development.[5]
Pageants[]
Kaler-Jones is a former Miss Atlantic County, Miss Northern Lakes, Miss Cape Shores, and Miss Coastal Shore.[3] In response to questions about the relevance of the Miss America pageant, she has stated: "What's more relevant than a powerful woman?"[3] She was named Miss New Jersey 2014 on June 14 with the platform: "Empowering Today’s Youth Through Arts Education."[4] Her talent was a self-choreographed contemporary dance to Beyoncé's "Listen".[4] (She was a member of Rutgers Dance Team).[3] Kaler-Jones competed in part because some people told her that she "couldn't be Miss New Jersey because I didn't look a certain way or didn't fit a certain mold" and she wondered why not.[2]
References[]
- ^ a b "Rutgers Student Crowned Miss New Jersey". University Herald. June 6, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
- ^ a b "New Miss New Jersey has arts and law interests". philly.com. June 17, 2014. Retrieved 2014-06-17.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Miss America 2015: Miss New Jersey's heart belongs to Atlantic City, Rutgers". nj.com. June 17, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
- ^ a b c d "Local Girl Cierra Kaler-Jones is Crowned Miss New Jersey 2014 in Ocean City". Atlantic City Weekly. July 17, 2014. Archived from the original on July 25, 2014. Retrieved 2014-07-17.
- ^ a b Official website Archived 2016-07-29 at the Wayback Machine.
External links[]
- 1993 births
- Living people
- Absegami High School alumni
- People from Galloway Township, New Jersey
- Rutgers University alumni
- American beauty pageant winners
- Miss America 2015 delegates