Cabrini University Grad Student To Compete For Miss America

Alysa Banbridge, Miss Pennsylvania 2022, is competing on Thursday, Dec. 15 in the 2023 Miss America competition.

Holly Herman, Patch Staff Posted Wed, Nov 30, 2022 at 5:02 pm ET

Alysa Banbridge (Bobbey Biddle/Miss Philadelphia Scholarship Organization)

RADNOR, PA —Cabrini University is hosting a send-off party for graduate student Alysa Bainbridge, who will compete in the Miss America contest on Dec. 15 representing Pennsylvania.

Bainbridge, a native of Leesport, Berks County, has been competing and winning pageants for years. She is the first Miss America candidate to attend Cabrini.

Bainbridge enrolled at Cabrini in fall 2021 after earning a full scholarship when she was crowned Miss Philadelphia in 2019. She is working on a master's degree in leadership.

Cabrini students and faculty wished Bainbridge well in the Miss America competition in Mohegan Sun, Conn.

Bainbridge won the Miss Pennsylvania contest in York’s Appel Center for the Performing Arts in June.

A graduate of Schuylkill Valley High School, she earned a bachelor’s degree in communication and journalism from St. Joseph’s University.

Bobbey Biddle, executive director of the Miss Philadelphia Scholarship fund, praised Bainbridge for devoting attention to the epidemic of substance abuse and mental illness.

Bainbridge has partnered with regional and national organizations, spoke in schools and with elected leaders sharing ideas to best tackle and support mental illness and substance abuse.

On Jan. 19, 2018, Bainbridge lost her brother, Tyler, to an overdose stemming from a mental health issue.

She founded a nonprofit, Tyler’s Triumph, to provide scholarships for those working toward recovery.

She plans to perform a lyrical dance dedicated to the memory of her brother at the Miss America pageant.

She is an aspiring broadcast journalist, who hopes one day to be the host of a national talk show.

https://patch.com/pennsylvania/radnor/cabrini-university-grad-student-compete-miss-america