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Miss USA Rima Fakih Comes Home to Michigan
Since winning the title of Miss USA, Rima Fakih of Dearborn has chatted with heads of state, played touch football with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and partied with the Oprah of China at a gathering in Shanghai.
But all that glamour doesn’t compare to being home. In town this week to reunite with family and friends — and receive the key to the city of Dearborn — Fakih said she’s glad to be in a familiar place.
“I get to sleep in my own bed,” she told the Free Press. “I get to see my puppy, tease my little brother a bit.”
After she was crowned May 16 in Las Vegas, Fakih — the first Arab American and Muslim to win the beauty contest — has been the focus of intense media attention. In the days after her victory, she also weathered controversy surrounding pole-dancing photos.
Despite the whirlwind and people treating her “much more like a celebrity,” Fakih said she hasn’t let the limelight change her.
“I’m still me.”
She juggles travel, appearances, fans
Wearing a turquoise dress and black stilettos, Fakih strides into the room, a jewel-studded crown perched on her black mane.
“Hi everyone!” Fakih, 24, says inside a room at the University of Michigan Student Union.
The appearance Thursday — to announce that the 2011 Miss Michigan competition will be held in Ann Arbor instead of Port Huron — was part of Fakih’s homecoming to metro Detroit this week. Her itinerary includes fund-raisers today in Birmingham and Detroit. On Saturday, she is to receive the key to the city of Dearborn, her hometown.
Fakih arrived in Detroit on Wednesday night and went straight to her family’s Dearborn home, where a banner on the front porch reads “Welcome Home Rima Fakih, Miss USA 2010.”
“It was really nice to see the family,” said Fakih, who took the opportunity to relax with loved ones. “We had dinner. My mom cooked.”
Since winning the Miss USA contest May 16 in Las Vegas, Fakih has been profiled in media outlets around the world, from People magazine to Foreign Policy, a journal for policy wonks. As the first Arab-American Muslim to win the title, she struck a chord in curious viewers eager to know more about her: “Rima Fakih” was the most searched name on Google the day after her victory.
Fakih said her title has kept her busy visiting cities around the world. She was in Rwanda last month meeting with survivors of genocide and HIV patients. She also was in Shanghai, China, representing the U.S. at the World Expo.
Fakih said a highlight was getting to meet the prime minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri; she has plans to visit Lebanon — her birthplace — to meet with other leaders in the fall.
She said she gets recognized often — especially in airports; excited gawkers shout out “Michigan!” or “Rima!”
One time, at La Guardia airport in New York City, “I was buying water, and some guys started going, ‘U-S-A, U-S-A.’ It’s so wonderful.”
Meeting celebrities is also a plus. She hung out with New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady at a charity event in Boston involving a bicycle ride.
And she has chatted with others, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and Donald Trump, who oversees the Miss Universe contest she will be competing in next month.
But through it all, Fakih said she’s thinking about education and other goals.
“My ultimate goal is to be a CEO or owner of a company,” she said while chatting with a convention official. So “I would need that business degree … and a law degree.”
For now, though, she’s enjoying her reign and said she’s “honored and proud” to represent Arab Americans and Muslims, given the stereotypes they have endured in recent years.
“Islam is not (about) extremists,” Fakih said. “They’re not who we are.”
Niraj Warikoo
Detroit Free Press