Like most Harvard students, when Elizabeth E. Hancock '00 finished her last exam, she packed her bags and prepared to fly home.

But before hopping on a plane, she went to Fall River, donned a red evening gown and took the crown in the Miss Massachusetts pageant.

Hancock, the new Miss Massachusetts, will get a $9,300 scholarship and the chance to compete in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, N.J. this September.

In edging out the final 15 state competitors on June 6, the Environmental Science and Public Policy concentrator has the chance to be the first woman from Harvard or Mass. to be Miss America.

"I think she's going to stand a very good chance in the Miss America pageant," said Steven L. Klamkin, a spokesperson for the Miss Massachusetts Scholarship Foundation.

The Miss America pageant has four segments: a personal interview worth 30 percent, a talent exhibition worth 40 percent--Hancock taps to the Broadway show, "42nd Street"--and the swimsuit and evening wear competitions each worth 15 percent of her final score.

Hancock, a Lowell House resident, is not the first woman from Lowell House to be Miss Massachusetts. Marcia M. Turner '97 was Miss Massachusetts in 1995.

"The house will gather round the big screen in the JCR as we did [three] years ago. We'll celebrate with Elizabeth and wish her luck," said Eugene C. McAfee, AllstonBurr senior tutor in Lowell House.

Hancock said she realizes that many people,including some at Harvard, think the Miss Americacontest degrades women by putting their bodies ondisplay.

"I think the reaction [at Harvard] is going tobe really mixed," she said.

But Hancock said the competition places lessemphasis on beauty than on talent andintelligence.

Even the swimsuit competition, a sentimentalfavorite for many, is only used as a gauge ofphysical fitness, she said.

"Most of what [the judges] look for in theswimsuit part is how you look from the neck up,"she said.

The next few months will be a whirlwind ofactivity for Hancock. Each day she must make asmany as two public appearances to promote thecompetition and draw attention to her chosencause, the environment.

Additionally, she must work with a physicaltherapist and a nutritionist to prepare her bodyand fashion designers to prepare her ensemble.

She will get more assistance in early Septemberwhen she spends a week in Disney World preparingwith all 50 contestants.

If she is chosen as Miss America, Hancock saidshe will take a year off from Harvard. MissAmerica travels about 20,000 miles around thecountry during her tenure.

Hancock said before winning the contest she hadplanned to spend a quiet summer as a residentialadvisor at a summer program in Ky., where she wasraised.

Although she is not originally from Mass.,attending Harvard made her eligible to competehere, Klamkin said.

Noting that she was named after the great Mass.philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson, class of1837--her middle name is Emerson--Hancock said sheadores Mass. and Boston.

"When a person is from a state they tend totake for granted all the wonderful things," shesaid. "I love the city and the historyespecially."

Hancock's Harvard affiliation may give her aboost, especially in the personal interviewsegment of the contest, Klamkin said.

"I think that's certainly going to stand her ingood stead," he said. "I think they'll beinterested to meet her and get to know her as aconsequence."

Hancock said when discussing the environment,she does not use technical information from herenvironmental science classes.

"If they ask you something like that and youcome out with something scientific, they're notgoing to understand it," Hancock said. "Usually, Ihave to answer pretty simply."

Hancock said she has dreamed of becoming MissAmerica from a very young age. When she was a highschool senior, she won the Kentucky Junior Misscontest, and her sister and mother have alsocompeted in local contests.

"Like every other little girl I'd alwayswatched the Miss America pageant on TV," Hancocksaid.

A Harvard cheerleader, Hancock reached thestate competition through a contest in SuffolkCounty, one of many regional pageants heldthroughout the state.

Her Harvard residence is not in Suffolk County,but the Suffolk contest is open to anyone in thestate, Klamkin said.

Hancock said her boyfriend, Scott M. Carmack'01, was happy to be dating Miss Massachusetts.

"He's very excited," she said.Photo CourtesyMargaret ScottELIZABETH E. HANCOCK '00: Future MissMassachusetts answers questions during thecompetition.