Okemos High Grad Crowned Miss USA 2024; Look at Her Back Then!

An Okemos High grad has been crowned Miss USA 2024.

Miss Michigan Alma Cooper took the national title at the Miss USA pageant in Los Angeles on Sunday night.

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Cooper is the first Michigander to be crowned Miss USA since Dearborn's Rima Fakih in 2010, and the first-ever Michigander from outside the Metro Detroit area to win the title.

Who Is Alma Cooper?

Alma Cooper attended Michigan's Okemos High School, where she graduated in 2019.

Cooper has accomplished quite a bit in her 22 years. She graduated from the United States Military Academy in West Point as an Army officer. Now she's in California at Stanford University pursuing a master's degree in statistics. Oh, and on top of that, she's now the first active duty Army officer to ever be chosen to serve as Miss USA.

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For those who knew Cooper in her days at Okemos High, the new title doesn't necessarily come as much of a surprise.

Alma Cooper at Okemos High School

At Okemos, she was already a pageant queen. She was on the varsity squads for basketball, volleyball and track, and was heavily involved in public service as well. Check out this video from 2018 where Cooper talks about her efforts - even then - to help end human trafficking.

"Human trafficking affects so many people," Cooper, then just 16, said. "Modern slavery is a multi-billion dollar industry, and I think that with so many people not being aware of how to get involved - how to help -  it's important to get that information out there and help these individuals get out of their situations."

As Miss USA, Cooper intends to use her platform to help boost awareness of "food insecurity" here in America and around the world.