Auburn University selected its 100th Miss Homecoming in Molly Anne Dutton this weekend. But Dutton’s victory is anything but a typical win.
Instead of winning based on popularity or the backing of a big campus organization, it was the Alabama student’s personal story that earned her the crown — and with it, plenty of national attention.
Homecoming Queen Molly Anne Dutton at Aurburn University Has a Ridiculously Inspirational Life Story That Is Sure to Inspire
Aurburn University’s 2013 Miss Homecoming Molly Anne Dutton (Image Source: YouTube)
The 22-year-old’s biological mother was faced with an extremely difficult situation. The victim of a sexual assault, the young woman became pregnant with Dutton and was given an ultimatum by her husband: Either abort the baby or get a divorce.
She chose to keep the baby, leading to a “ridiculously inspirational life story” for her daughter. Rather than aborting, she carried the baby to term and worked with Lifeline Children’s Services, a Christian adoption group in Birmingham, Ala., to ensure that the baby girl was given a good life.
Dutton’s adoptive parents served on the agency’s board at the time and when they heard about the situation, they took action.
Fast-forward to 2013, where Dutton — running on a platform of adoption advocacy with the campaign slogan, “Light up LIFE” — is a happy, healthy young woman. And she’s giving credit to the Christian organization that made her birth possible.
“Because that resource was made available to my mother, she decided to give birth to me,” she said in a campaign video for Miss Homecoming. “And here I am talking to you guys 22 years later.”
In that same video, Dutton said that if she could deliver one message to women who find themselves pregnant, it would be that they aren’t alone and that help is always available.