LAS VEGAS – A woman who grew up in Alabama and moved to New York City is the new Miss America.

Mallory Hagan, 23, won a $50,000 college scholarship and a year as an instant celebrity and role model to many girls as she defeated Miss South Carolina Ali Rogers, who took second, and Miss Oklahoma Alicia Clifton, who finished third.

Hagam raised the issue of child sexual abuse in her contestant platform. She told The Associated Press in an interview after her win that sexual abuse had “rippled through” her family, touching her mother, aunt, grandmother and cousins.

Miss Indiana MerrieBeth Cox, a Purdue University student from Illinois, advanced to the final 12 contestants.