Daja Dial

Dial entered her first pageant in 2010 while a senior at Paul M. Dorman High School. She was in a pageant audience to support her cousin when the Director of another pageant encouraged Dial to compete herself the next weekend.[2] Dial won the Miss Greater Carolina Teen 2010 title and competed for the Miss South Carolina Teen title on a platform of Juvenile Diabetes awareness and a vocal performance of "And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" from the musical Dreamgirls.[3] Dial was a Top-11 finalist for the state title.[4]

The next year, competing as an adult, Dial qualified for the 2011 Miss South Carolina pageant as Miss Powdersville. She competed with the platform "Type 1 & Type II Diabetes Mellitus" and a vocal performance of the Dusty Springfield song "Son of a Preacher Man" in the talent portion of the competition.[5][6] She was named runner-up to winner Bree Boyce.[5] She competed in the 2012 Miss South Carolina pageant as Miss Lyman with the platform "Type 1 & Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus" and a vocal performance in the talent portion of the competition.[7] She was not a Top-16 semi-finalist for the state title.[8] She competed in the 2013 Miss South Carolina pageant as Miss Richland County with the platform "Type I and Type II Diabetes Mellitus" and a pop vocal performance in the talent portion of the competition.[9] She was named a Top 10 Finalist for the state title.[10] Dial, a Clemson Tigers cheerleader at the time, was also named Miss Clemson University 2013.[11] She was the first African American to win the school title.[1][12]

In 2014, Dial won the Miss Fountain Inn title. She competed in the 2014 Miss South Carolina pageant with the platform "Type I and Type II Diabetes Mellitus" and a vocal performance of "Believe" in the talent portion of the competition.[13] She won a Preliminary Talent award and was named Miss Photogenic.[14][15] Dial placed second runner-up to winner Lanie Hudson.[15][16]

On February 21, 2015, Dial was crowned Miss Greenville County 2015.[17][18] She entered the Miss South Carolina pageant at Columbia's Township Auditorium in June 2015 as one of 55 qualifiers for the state title.[19][20][21] Dial's competition talent was a vocal performance of "I Believe", a song made famous by Fantasia Barrino.[12][22][23] Her platform is "Type I and Type II Diabetes Mellitus".[24]

Her on-stage interview question was whether "Confederate memorabilia" should be removed from South Carolina State House grounds.[1][11][25] Dial answered, in part, "It's a new South Carolina. We have made so much progress and it's time to take it down. As Miss South Carolina, I can lead this state into a new era. And that flag being taken down is representative of that."[11][25]

Dial won the competition on Saturday, June 27, 2015, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss South Carolina titleholder Lanie Hudson.[22][26][27] She is the third African American to be crowned Miss South Carolina.[1][11] She earned more than $10,000 in scholarship money and other prizes from the state pageant. As Miss South Carolina, her activities include public appearances across the state of South Carolina.[26]

Dial was South Carolina's representative at the Miss America 2016 pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in September 2015.[20][22][24] In preliminary swimsuit competition, Dial won a "lifestyle and fitness" scholarship of $1,000.[28][29] In the televised finale on September 13, 2015, she sang Fantasia Barrino's "I Believe" during the talent portion of the competition. During the interview portion, she was asked about banning "military-style assault weapons".[30] Dial placed in the Top 7 finalists as earned a $7,000 scholarship award.[28][31]