There’s much more to Molly Anne Dutton than her recent win as Auburn University’s 100th Miss Homecoming.
Instead of winning homecoming queen because of popularity or backing from a large campus organization, the 22-year-old earned the crown with her own story. Indeed, the story touched the hearts of Auburn students and has made her the subject of national spotlight.
Dutton’s biological mother became pregnant with her after a sexual assault. The young woman’s husband told her to either have an abortion or get a divorce.
Faced with a difficult decision many women give in to, Dutton’s mother chose to keep her baby. She worked with Lifeline Children’s Services, a Christian adoption and counseling agency in Birmingham, Ala., to ensure a good life for her little girl.
“Because that resource was made available to her, she decided to give birth to me and here I am, sitting here before y’all 22 years later declaring how radiant my life has been,” Dutton told Elisabeth Hasselbeck on Fox & Friends.
Dutton’s adoptive parents served on the agency’s board at the time. Dutton, a horticulture major, is the youngest of their six children—of which four are adopted.
The Auburn student named her campaign “Light Up Life,” and canvassed the campus with glow sticks, t-shirts and daisies to “celebrate what life really is.”
“We wanted to make it fun and to know that life is so light and radiant, and that’s how Light Up Life began. And we tossed around, ‘This is a story of restoration and hope,’ ” Dutton said on the Fox show.
She told the Associated Press that she is “full of gratitude” for the Auburn student body that supported her platform.
“I was given grace to carry that story,” she said. “My story is a voice for the voiceless.”
Click here to read Dutton’s campaign platform and watch her video.
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