The Miss America pageant is very pro-education. They give the winner a full college scholarship. Which is just what Harvard needs, more bulimics who play the ukulele.

The joke skewers the Miss America pageant’s attempt to brand itself as “pro‑education” by emphasizing scholarship money. The speaker undercuts that civic-minded framing by invoking two stereotypes associated with beauty culture: eating disorders (bulimia) and “talent” acts that can feel trivial or performative (here, playing the ukulele). The punchline pivots to Harvard—an emblem of elite academic seriousness—to highlight the mismatch between the pageant’s values and the ideals of higher education. Overall, it’s a satirical critique of how institutions use scholarships to launder or soften criticism of objectification and unhealthy body standards.