With a firm handshake and an air of confidence in her voice, it's not difficult to see why the judges at the February 2 Miss Auburn Scholarship Program pageant picked Cara Rudd from among 23 other qualified contestants.

"She's got the full package," said one anonymous blogger on the FederalWayNews.net website, sharing sentiments about Rudd's complete balance of platform, talent and presentation. The judges must have agreed.

"We are very, very proud to have Cara as our Miss Auburn 2008," said Nancy Backus, president of the Miss Auburn Scholarship Program.

The Federal Way local spent the first week of her year of service mingling with community members and letting the reality of her new Miss Auburn title settle in.

The 21-year-old has wasted no time in putting her platform-incorporating the arts into academic learning-into practice.

"I'm overwhelmed, I really am," Rudd told the Federal Way News at the scholarship awards presentation at Emerald Downs February 7.

"We have an exciting year ahead of us," she said. "This is something that I've really been looking forward to for a long time."

The new Miss Auburn said this year's field of applicants was extremely talented, but admits her toughest competitors were the strict standards she had set for herself.

"I'm really the only person I'm competing with," Rudd said.

"I'm constantly critiquing myself," Rudd admitted. "I see where my strengths are, and I see where my weaknesses are."

Rudd, a former Federal Way Junior Miss, submitted her application to compete in the Miss Auburn Scholarship Program pageant because her hometown does not offer a Miss Federal Way program.

Miss Auburn from Federal Way?

"For as long as I've been involved," said Backus, a 29-year veteran of the program, "the Miss Auburn Scholarship Program has been one where you either live, work or go to school in Auburn."

Cara attended school at Green River Community College, where she earned an Associate of Arts degree. But her former student status at GRCC alone did not qualify her to participate in the event.

"Because we are a franchise of the Miss America organization," Backus said, "we are required-if we have openings-to allow young ladies if they are what we consider 'next closest local.'"

"Someone from Kirkland couldn't come down to Auburn and participate because they have the Miss Seattle program," Backus said.

With the board looking to fill a 24-sponsor roster and the validation of Rudd's Federal Way residency, Backus said there is absolutely no doubt she met the necessary qualifications to participate.

"There was an opening and Cara was allowed to come in as someone outside the Auburn community," Backus said.

But Rudd's Federal Way residency and participation in the event didn't cause much controversy, until the moment she received the Miss Auburn crown.

Slander and Misconceptions

More than 200 comments poured in to www.federalwaynews.net, most of them calling into question Rudd's fulfillment of the residency requirements. Others verbally bashed her character and ethics, while some bloggers defended the judges' choice for Miss Auburn.

"I haven't actually looked at them at all," Rudd said, "Mostly because I wouldn't find them beneficial."

Regardless of the angered bloggers' feelings, Backus said she found it lamentable that so many would choose to publicly and anonymously vent them on the Internet. Several of the comments intended to tarnish the seemingly lustrous reputation the program has earned with the Auburn community.

"I was really sad to read some of the comments," Backus said.

"I understand parents and young ladies are disappointed if they don't win," the president added. "They've worked really hard...any one of them could have won."

But pouring out their frustrations while hiding behind the cloak of a computer, Backus suggested, doesn't help the board address those individual concerns.

As for "some of the nasty (and) anonymous comments left on your site," Backus said, "I understand people being able to verbalize their feelings."

"It's just sad that they weren't willing to put their names to it so that we could address them individually," Backus said.

The president said the organization doesn't usually acknowledge anonymous comments, but due to the overwhelming number of posts, Backus decided to leave a response of her own.

"We wanted to come up with some answers to some of the misperceptions that were going around," Backus said.

The Miss Auburn Scholarship Program has only fielded a small handful of in-person questions regarding Rudd's qualification as a contestant.

"Some people asked us how Cara qualified," Backus said, "and we explained it to them."

"When you have the facts," Backus said, "most people understand."

"They may not like it," she clarified, "but they understand."

Backus confirmed that she believes this event, like most storms, will blow over. And Cara's charm and leadership will likely prove the character assailants wrong.

"For those that may not appreciate her right now," Backus said, "I think she'll have the ability to change their opinion of her before her year of service is over."

Rudd agrees. She feels confident that she will live up to the expectations set forth by her new title.

"I'm looking forward to moving on," she said.

"I'm very confident in who I am," Rudd said, "and I know I won this program fairly."

Editor's note: This year's Miss Auburn Scholarship Program pageant generated $84,150.01 in gifts and scholarships, a new record for the program. Cara Rudd received $8,250.00 in scholarships. Nancy Backus, program president, said each of the 24 contestants received scholarships, the lowest of which was $1,000.00.