NDSU student Audra Mari was crowned as Miss North Dakota USA during a pageant Nov. 23-24 at NDSU’s Reineke Fine Arts Center. Mari is a freshman from Fargo majoring in public relations and advertising.
“The title of Miss North Dakota USA means the absolute world to me,” said Mari, who was selected from among 18 contestants and will participate in the Miss USA pageant. “I will get to spend the next year representing our incredible state through community service work, public appearances and overall bettering the community of not only Fargo, but North Dakota as a whole.”
Mari previously held the title of Miss North Dakota Teen USA 2011 and was first runner-up Miss Teen USA 2011.
NDSU Campus Attractions co-sponsored the North Dakota pageant. It was produced by Future Products LLC of Minneapolis, which has a seven-state franchise from the Miss Universe Organization. The Miss USA, Miss Universe and Miss Teen USA pageants are joint ventures of Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal.
The date and location of the nationally televised Miss USA pageant has yet to be announced.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.