Erika Harold should not be confused with Elle Woods. Even though she did show her brains in the end, Woods, played by Reese Witherspoon in “Legally Blonde,” was, let’s face it, a bit lacking in the gravitas department. So perhaps some may assume Harold is cut from the same cloth just because she won the Miss America contest. It’s unlikely, however, that Woods would start her contestant platform with a Tolstoy quote, nor would she campaign for legislation against bullying or encourage young people to abstain from sex, drugs and alcohol.
Harold, who won the competition on Sept. 21, has been accepted to HLS and has deferred admission to carry out the duties of the crown, which require a whirlwind travel and appearance schedule. After her victory, she made a quick and quiet stop to check out the HLS campus, where she plans to study law in order to pursue public interest and public policy work. Of course, some people who defer and find success elsewhere never actually attend HLS. But many people here would be disappointed if Miss America didn’t enroll–because they’d like to discuss her platform with her, naturally.