Carolyn Sapp Daniels (born Carolyn Suzanne Sapp on April 5, 1967) is an actress, singer, stuntwoman, and

motivational speaker A motivational speaker is a speaker who makes speeches intended to motivate or inspire an audience. Such speakers may attempt to challenge or transform their audiences. The speech itself is popularly known as a pep talk. Motivational speakers c ...

best known as the first representative from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

to win

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

in 1992.

Early life

Sapp was born in

Kona Kona or KONA may refer to: People *Kona (surname) *Dilshad Nahar Kona, Bangladeshi singer also known as Kona Television * ''Kona'' (TV series), a Kenyan telenovela that premiered in 2013 Locations * Kona, Kentucky * Kona, North Carolina * Ko ...

to Susan and Fred Sapp, a dance teacher and

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

minister, respectively. Her parents divorced amicably when she was an infant. Sapp was raised by her step-grandparents and attended Columbia River Bible Church and Academy in Washington state from

kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th cen ...

to 12th grade.

Pageantry

Miss Hawaii

After graduating high school she financed her college education at

Hawaii Pacific University Hawaii Pacific University (HPU) is a private university in downtown Honolulu, Makapuʻu and Kāneʻohe, Hawaii. HPU is the largest private university in the central Pacific, most noted for its diverse student body of nearly 5,000 students ...

by winning several pageants including Miss Kona Coffee and Miss Hawaii Pacific University. Sapp competed in Miss Hawaii three times before winning in 1991, enabling her to represent her state at the

Miss America 1992 Miss America 1992 was the 65th Miss America pageant, and was held on Saturday, September 14, 1991. Carolyn Suzanne Sapp became the first Miss Hawaii to win the crown. Results Placements Order of announcements Top 10 # # # # # # # # # # ...

pageant.

Miss America 1992

During the preliminary competition, Sapp won the preliminary swimsuit round and was crowned the winner of the pageant on the final night of competition becoming the first Miss America titleholder outside of the

contiguous United States The contiguous United States (officially the conterminous United States) consists of the 48 adjoining U.S. states and the Federal District of the United States of America. The term excludes the only two non-contiguous states, Alaska and Hawaii ...

. A day after her coronation, it was revealed that Sapp had been in an abusive relationship with former

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The ...

player Nuu Faaola whom she had dated before her Miss Hawaii tenure, and later stated that this leaked information was against her wishes as it was a personal matter. Although she had chosen education as her Miss America platform, Sapp also became a spokesperson for domestic violence victims, and founded the foundations Safe Places for Abused Women and Children, and Give Back a Smile.

Activism

After her reign, Sapp starred as herself in the autobiographical television movie, ''Miss America: Behind the Crown'', which depicted the physically abusive relationship between her and Faaola. In interviews about the movie, she stated, "When I learned that abuse hotlines were receiving up to 1,000 calls a day, I decided I should make the movie. If Miss America can have this happen to her and get out of it, it will help other people. Women can use my pain to help gain strength". Sapp acted as spokesperson for, "Wal-Mart Versus Women" which promoted public awareness of the retail giant's nationwide pattern of discrimination against female employees. and was interviewed in Andrew Munger's 2007 documentary ''Wal*Mart Nation''. Sapp was inducted into

Omicron Delta Kappa Omicron Delta Kappa (), also known as The Circle and ODK, is one of the most prestigious honor societies in the United States with chapters at more than 300 college campuses. It was founded December 3, 1914, at Washington and Lee University i ...

, the National Leadership Honor Society, in 2019 as an ''honoris causa'' initiate by

Concordia University Irvine Concordia University Irvine is a private Lutheran university in Irvine, California, United States. It was established in 1976 to provide a Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod college to serve the Pacific Southwest and provide training for pastors, ...

Personal life

Sapp married stuntman, Alex Daniels, on January 1, 2006. Together, the couple have three children, Kai O’Cain, Keira Makanalani, and Kale’a Charlie-Rose.Carolyn Sapp Daniels
/ref>

External links

* *

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060108212714/http://www.missamerica.com/our-miss-americas/1990/1992.asp Miss America page

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sapp, Carolyn Suzanne 1967 births Hawaii Pacific University alumni Living people Miss America 1992 delegates Miss America Preliminary Swimsuit winners Miss America winners People from Hawaii 20th-century American people