Miss America Responds to Hofstra Hazing Claims

Photo: Kira Kazantsev is crowned Miss America. Credit: @MissAmerica Twitter

A week after Kira Kazantsev was crowned Miss America, the Hofstra University graduate is refuting claims that she was kicked out of her sorority for hazing pledges.

Kazantsev, a 2013 Hofstra graduate, posted a blog on her website denying claims made by Jezebel that she took part in “ abusive hazing” at Alpha Phi.

According to a report on Monday from Jezebel,Kazantsev was booted from the sorority after hazing pledges while she served as Alpha Phi’s head of recruitment. She and her best friend, also in the sorority, “were exceptionally harsh toward the pledges” who were “called names, berated for their perceived physical flaws and imperfections, and made to perform physical tasks to the point of bruising and exhaustion,” according to thereport.

“ I was never involved with any name-calling or use of profanity toward a girl during my time with the sorority,” she responded Tuesday morning. “I was never involved in any physical hazing or any degradation of physical appearance of any kind.”

Kazantsev maintains her dismissal at the end of her senior year stemmed from other circumstances that taught her a “ very important communications lesson that will stick with me for life.”

In an email to alumni about an upcoming event, she claims she joked about making the evening “scary for the pledges.” The Alpha Phi national organization obtained a copy of the email and, while the sorority never intended to harm or intimidate pledges, summoned Kazantsev for a judiciary hearing, she said.

Citing “ finals, graduation, and moving to New York City” as her priorities at the end of her senior year, Kazantsev never attended her hearing which prompted her dismissal, she wrote.

“This has all been immensely taken out of context and manipulated purposefully because I am now in a public position,” she insisted.

“ Kira has been fully transparent with the MissAmerica Organization about her termination from the Alpha Phi sorority,” a spokeswoman for the Miss America organization told Jezebel, saying the incident was exploited for a story. “ Kira is an exceptional ambassador for the MissAmerica Organization, and we are excited to be a part of her journey as a force for good across our nation, promoting education and service and working to empower young women.”

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