Was Miss America Kira Kazantsev kicked out of her sorority for extreme hazing?

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I went to a small liberal arts college without a Greek system. Although I wasn’t conscious of it when I applied and got accepted to the college, I was grateful for the lack of sororities and fraternities in the long haul. I’ve had friends who did the sorority thing at other colleges and my biggest qualm (when I was younger) was that it just seemed like a cash-suck. You’re paying to be part of this exclusive club and it’s just not worth it. You’re in college – make friends the old-fashioned way, you know? You don’t have to pay for friendships. Well, it seems like our new Miss America, Kira Kazantsev, belonged to the Alpha Phi sorority at Hofstra. And she was kicked out of Alpha Phi because she was abusing pledges. Damn, girl. The report originated at Jezebel – go here to read.

Miss America Kira Kazantsev was allegedly kicked out of her college sorority for abusive hazing of pledges. The shocking report emerged on Monday, eight days after the former Miss New York was crowned Miss America after performing an Anna Kendrick-style cup routine to “Happy.”

According to Jezebel, Kazantsev was the head of recruitment for the Alpha Phi sorority at Hofstra University in April 2013 when she and a friend were kicked out after an investigation related to extreme hazing. The outlet’s source says the future Miss America made recruits’ lives a “living hell” with verbal and physical degradations that violated the school’s code of conduct.

Kazantsev and the other sorority member were allegedly reported to authorities for “dirty pledging,” leading to a months-long investigation that ended with their expulsion from Alpha Phi.

It should be noted that Jezebel has not confirmed the specifics of Kazantsev’s reported infractions due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which restricts university officials from talking about disciplinary cases.

But the Miss America Organization has issued a statement corroborating the beauty pageant winner’s abrupt dismissal from her sorority: “Kira has been fully transparent with the Miss America Organization about her termination from the Alpha Phi sorority. It’s unfortunate that this incident has been exploited to create a storyline that distracts from what we should be focusing on: Kira’s impressive academic achievements at Hofstra University, including earning a triple major from the Honors College and her commitment to serving her community.”

Kazantsev graduated from Hofstra in 2013.

Following her Miss America win, the dean of the school’s Honors College called Kazantsev “very, very talented and extremely bright” in Newsday, and the university posted a congratulatory message. No mention was made of her hazing abuses.

[From Gossip Cop]

There are more details of the abuse at Jezebel – unnamed sources (allegedly pledges under Kira’s reign as “Alpha Phi Sorority New Member Educator and Recruitment Committee President”) claim that pledges were “called names, berated for their perceived physical flaws and imperfections, and made to perform physical tasks to the point of bruising and exhaustion.” There are way more stories too. YIKES.

Update: Kira has written a lengthy blog post about the circumstances of her withdrawal from the sorority – go here to read. She claims she was asked to write a joke email threatening pledges or something and that most of the hazing she was involved with was about crafting. Do you believe her?

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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87 Responses to “Was Miss America Kira Kazantsev kicked out of her sorority for extreme hazing?”

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  1. QQ says:

    Hahahahah a sorority when? in the 60s?!? this girl looks like a Aging Housewife of those Real Housewives of _____

  2. Felice says:

    From my American friends, they said the act of physically hazing pledges is more common in the Big 10 schools. In small liberal arts schools it tends to be more “Remember everyone’s name or you don’t get dessert” blah blah blah.

    • InsertNameHere says:

      It isn’t really specific to an athletic conference – it’s a widespread issue in every region of the country. It does tend to be the schools with a larger “Greek” presence. Ole Miss would be a good example.

      • prettylights says:

        I actually pledged to be a little sister in a fraternity at a small liberal arts college. Basically it was almost like a co-ed fraternity/sorority. I had met the guys first and they were great, laid back and fun, and they convinced me to pledge. The ‘hazing’ wasn’t bad at all. The little sisters made us carry around hollowed out eggs without breaking them for a week, they made us stay up all night a few times with no sleep memorizing stuff or working on signs (so we had to go to class the next day super tired), made us sing songs and embarass ourselves, sometimes screamed in our faces if we couldn’t remember names/the greek alphabet, and made us do stuff for them like run errands. But really it wasn’t too bad.

        I didn’t wind up finishing my pledging because I didn’t like most of the girls in it and didn’t connect with them, but the guys, who I became great friends with, made me an honorary little sister anyway even though I was supposed to be ‘blacklisted’. Almost 10 years later they still invite me to their fraternity functions. And no, I never slept with any of them – we were/are strictly friends!

  3. some bitch says:

    She looks like a standard sorority bitch. I believe it.

  4. Side-Eye says:

    I never got the desire to be a part of a group that forces you to degrade yourself to be a part of it. I’ll be damned if I join a sorority just so I can pay for other girls to bully me. I got that in middle school for free.

  5. Abbott says:

    Did she make the new recruits watch her cup dancing routine?

  6. joy says:

    I was a sorority member and an advisor as an alumnae. I can tell you that due to possible litigation hazing is taken very seriously and to be kicked out it had to be BAD.

  7. HH says:

    I have never felt more racist than when I watched the Miss America pageant. Just a sea of white girls. Every last one of the blondes looked alike and every brunette looked the same. I had no idea who anyone was because they kept changing attire and nothing else about them stood out. Any one of those blonde girls could show up at my doorstep with a crown claiming to be the winner and I’d believe them.

    • LK says:

      +1000. And the winner seems to be the phoniest of them all.

      • FLORC says:

        They’re not all phony. I’ve met a few from my current state and have been decent friends with 1 for a few years now. Some are very talented and sweet. They can seem fake because they’re so bubbly and nice, but that’s a public face. Scratch the surface and some of them are really genuine, and insecure like everyone else.

        Not all though. Some are horrible people with few redeeming qualities if any.

        I will say this. Their skin is terrible. They all have horribly dry and damaged sin from sun and makeup.

      • LK says:

        Well, i am glad FLORC – because i personally don’t know any, and the lot of them just seem phony to me. Teach me not be so quick to judge, thanks for the reminder.

      • FLORC says:

        I prejudged the 1 i’m friends with. I snarked before we met. I gossiped with the group I was with. Then she came off so nice it seemed like an act. But she maintained it and I was aware it was just her. Really bubbly and kind.
        Not all are like that though. She was so nice because she was bullied heavily.

        It is important to remember that it is a show. They are playing a role. Kind of a barbie doll. In that way I do agree with you. And the nice ones don’t always make it far in the competition.

    • Anne tommy says:

      Without being nasty, The concept that this woman is in any way the best looking woman in the USA is ludicrous. I see prettier girls on the bus to work every day. What were the judges thinking?

      • HH says:

        I’m never a good judge on looks when it comes to blondes. So many blondes look a like to me that I can’t tell when one is exceptionally prettier than another.

  8. Bedge says:

    On a side note, being an Aussie girl – have never understood this sorority… stuff. It doesn’t exsist here.

    • Esmom says:

      A blessing for you. I went to a university with a huge greek system and it was awful. They purport to be philanthropic but it’s really just a popularity contest. Where things like conformity and elitism are celebrated and academic cheating and date rape are rampant…zero redeeming qualities imo. I’ve told my husband, who was in a fraternity (it sounded relatively innocuous, but still) that we will not encourage our sons to join fraternities.

    • littlestar says:

      I’m from Canada, and while there were definitely sororities at the big liberal arts university I went to, they did not seem like a thing at all. All of the “popular” people I knew did not belong to one, and no one really seemed to push for you to join one (besides the usual welcome week festivities). What exactly do sororities do anyway? Charity? Volunteer work? Or just party?

    • Denise says:

      I’m originally from Canada and we don’t have it either. Maybe in a minor way in some universities but we just don’t have that kind of culture, thankfully. And cheerleading has never, ever been cool. I had no idea you actually have to pay to be in a sorority. Unbelievable to fork over cash to have your life ruined, basically.

    • Ange says:

      Another Aussie who is confused by it too. I can understand that she might have been a grade A b*tch though, I always figured you kinda had to be that way to succeed in the pageant world.

  9. Cheryl says:

    I guess we can look forward to the tv lifetime movie. A young woman is terrorized at college by a barbie-dolled faced plastic future beauty queen?

  10. Kayla says:

    As an active member of my sorority, I take extreme offense to your unbelievably ignorant view that I and my sisters, and the millions of other men and women throughout the Greek system nationwide, pay for our friends. The Greek system as a whole is filled with intelligent and involved men and women who do a lot of good. Unfortunately it only takes a few bad apples, such as this one, to give the whole system a bad reputation.

    • Tifygodess24 says:

      While I can understand how you could be offended and I don’t agree with the pay for friends statement either BUT there are way more than just a few bad apples when it comes to the Greek system sadly. Its a notoriously flawed society but I agree that there are many good things that can come out of sororities and fraternities that shoudnt be overlooked , and there is a life long bond between members. But you can’t overlook the very dangerous and sometimes deadly things that happen in this society, there wouldn’t be laws and regulations in place like there are to protect people. Having gone to a rather large university myself I have witnesses things first hand that personally I wish I hadn’t and every year like clock work something pretty significant happens on fraternity row. Not to mention colleges are notorious for covering things ( google sexual assaults on campuses ) so we may not have all the facts yearly about exactly what is happening.

      • G. says:

        I’m an active member of Greek life, and there are waaaay more than a few bad apples. Try changing the attitudes if your siblings before you yell at people.
        This is why I’ll never pledge PHC.

    • some bitch says:

      I suppose I could understand why you’re offended, but I’ve also witnessed more than enough sexist, racist, classist behaviour from fraternities and sororities alike that my sympathies are very limited.

    • Clever hand says:

      You do, though.

    • Leen says:

      I agree with you Kayla. Before I came to the US, I had a very negative view of sororities. But ever since I came here, three of my very good friends are all in sororities and they love it and they are beautiful, intelligent and ambitious young women. No doubt there are problems with sororities and all that, but I think it’s a bit extreme to paint the entire Greek system with the same brush.

      I should mention, I personally have no desire to be in a sorority. But I can’t judge those who do.

    • HH says:

      “… a few bad apples” is a complete understatement. Fraternities and sororities have their reputations because of A LOT of incidents that weren’t isolated (to the point that laws were created, as pointed out above). A pattern was established. Is every individual within the Greek system awful? No. Is every fraternity or sorority the same? No. While it’s too simple to paint with a broad brush, it’s also too simple to dwindle the issue down to a few incidents/bad apples.

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      I went to a small non-Greek school, so I wasn’t in a sorority, but many of my friends who went to large universities were. I could understand it – you walk into a school with thousands of students, and it was nice for them to have a smaller group to instantly know. They all made friends outside of their sororities, but formed some true friendships within it that they maintain today. They didn’t do any hazing or mean things, just silly things.
      I think it’s like anything else – there are good ones and bad ones, and it’s unfair to say they’re all the same.

    • TheBestKittenAround says:

      I don’t think it’s the fraternity/sorority that’s the issue, but the hazing.

      104 deaths since 1970 due to hazing in frats/sororities.
      The solution is simple: take a no-tolerance approach to hazing.

      • Esmom says:

        Actually it’s a lot more than hazing. And while it’s not limited to fraternities and sororities, I do believe they exacerbate problems like the binge drinking, sexual assaults and hazing that seem to be endemic in college life these days. Fraternity houses, especially, are probably the least safe places a kid could be/live on campus.

  11. LK says:

    She looks like a no-star-straight-to-dvd-movie kind of actress.no offense to straight to dvd movie actress.

  12. PoliteTeaSipper says:

    I’m still surprised that Miss America is still a thing.

  13. Jenny says:

    It’s people like this that make others call us sorority bitches. It sucks. I never “paid for friends” and Its hurtful to watch the bad apples of sorority life take down what can be and is a very positive affiliation. Never once was I hazed or made to feel less than, physically or mentally. No one I knew was. In fact, I was made to feel as if my membership mattered. I know it happens and it’s disgusting, whether it’s Greek or sports or whatever, hazing is never right. And it needs to be brought to the light so that people like Kira are shown the door and are held accountable for being crappy people. So what if she was great with academics, etc. she was cruel and abusive and made people feel badly on purpose. That’s not a good person. And yes, to be kicked out, I wonder what she was doing.
    But Kaiser, please don’t brush off what is a meaningful experience for many members as buying friends. It’s not for everyone but it means a lot for most people involved.

    • joy says:

      Amen. And not for nothing, but I just got a new job, based in part on all the public speaking opportunities being in a sorority afforded me.

    • Clever hand says:

      As long as you pay to get into a group, people are going to say you pay for friends. And then those friends tell you what to do, wear and say. That’s just the truth.

      • Sarah says:

        No one tells you what to do, wear and say. At least not in the sorority I was in in the early 1980’s. Things that we did then are considered hazing now and some of those are silly. For example, we had a scavenger hunt to find your big sister. That’s hazing now and not done. There are bad apples in any group. Dues go to the house or suite or social activities and philanthropic activities. I have never volunteered more for charity in my life than I did while I was in college. That was an expectation for every Greek and one we took seriously. I never considered it paying for friends and never in my life was told what to wear. Honestly, I’m guessin a lot of people here think every frat is Animal House.

      • Mel M says:

        I was never told what to do, say, or wear either and I graduated college in 2005. Painting us all with a broad brush is not fair for any group, even sororities and fraternities. I went to a state school with 30k+ students. The Greek system was large but not huge but I don’t feel like I paid for my friends because the dues went to real things like room and board for the living in the sorority house, food, philanthropic events we would do and yes we did them multiple times a year. We didn’t haze either, we had a test of the history of our sorority before initiation but thats about it.

      • G. says:

        I got lucky, because I joined a small multicultural sorority. No hazing, no exclusion, no nothing. I love it, but it also has made me hyper aware if how much it’s not like that in some other branches. It’s also made me aware of all the people who do legitimately want to change the way Greek life operates, and all the struggles they have to face, often by their own members.

      • Jenny says:

        I was never told to do anything. In fact, at least in my house, I have never seen a more diverse group of girls, some from other countries. And as far as I could tell through our record books, my money went to our philanthropy, special ceremonies, decorating the house I lived in, paid for the food I ate, and to college life such as Homecoming, Spring Jam. Pretty sure not one of my friends put a dollar in her purse.

        I am defensive because my experience was great. But I can understand that many people haven’t had that same experience. It’s just insulting to be grouped in with a bunch of stereotypes. And yes, it may seem like the Greek system has more problems than nonGreek. However, groups are more likely to get attention than the lone a-hole down the street.

        Back on topic, it’s so disappointing to hear someone say because I went through it I thought everyone should (Greek hazing). No, it’s wrong, just like any type of abuse and I fully stand behind shutting the doors of houses that allow it, passively or not.

  14. Lucky Charm says:

    If these beauty pageants are for scholarships, then I don’t think anyone who’s already graduated from college should be eligible. And I’d really like to see them reward the girls (women) who DON’T artificially alter their looks with plastic surgery, fillers, etc. but instead are self confident enough with their own looks and get by on their own actual talent. HH is right, they are all generic looking and none of them stand out in any way.

  15. FLORC says:

    My undergrad university got rid of all Frats and sororities after it became near impossible to police them. Then a student named Zebrowski went missing after some bingdrinking hazing. Made national news and the Unversity closed down all Greek housing. Only because it got national attention was anything done imo.

    Maybe more light will be shed on this with national attention again.

  16. Enid says:

    I was a member of a sorority in college, and I had a positive experience. It wasn’t paying for friends so much as paying to live in a communal house with people who share your goals and interests. Granted, we had a super strict hazing policy on campus. When I was a new member (they aren’t pledges any more) our sorority got in trouble for hazing. The crime? All the new members of the greek system engaged in a pin war (where you try to steal another new member’s pin) and one of the fraternities had to sing to us to get their pin back.

    I have life long friends from my sorority, and it has opened up opportunities for me in life. Granted, I went to a medium sized university with a small greek system.

  17. Felice says:

    I mean Miss America still seems to focus on the scholarship qualities of pageants but other pageant systems have gone downhill. A Playboy model who is dating Rob Dyrdek just won a national title for goodness sake. I’m not saying she doesn’t have a right to do Playboy but that has to be a serious conflict of interest.

  18. InvaderTak says:

    I can’t even be surprised. Seems like there arent any contestants or winners on these things that don’t have skeletons make it into the press. As someone said above, it’s really hard to have sympathy for the bad rep sororities get; I was the victim of one of their hazing rituals (note: I was a bystander, I was not a pledge or a sister. I was 19 and newly employed in a department store.) and ended up crying for a week, missing classes and work. So I’ll admit it; I don’t like Greek life and people who participate. Glad they did something about her. The sorority didn’t do anything about their members abusing me. And yes they knew.

  19. GracieB says:

    Its spelled HOFSTRA! Actually good school on the east coast, with a medical school and hosted 2 presidential debates. Francis Ford Coppola, Christopher Walken and others are alums.

  20. Amy says:

    I went to a small liberal arts college and had no intention of joining a sorority. However I started my freshman year in January instead of August like the rest (I didn’t transfer from anywhere, the college told me I could start in January instead and I really wanted to go there and that’s what I did). It was really hard making friends coming midway through the school year. After the summer, I didn’t keep in touch with most of my friends and started my sophomore year essentially friendless. It was very lonely and I decided to join a sorority as a way to meet people and make friends. Sure, I had to pay dues every semester. And there were things I liked and disliked about Greek life just like with everything in life. There was no hazing during my pledging–it was mostly learning about the sorority’s history and learning the sisters’ names. However I don’t regret my decision. Some of the girls I met there became some of my best friends in college and we are still friends today. Had I not joined, we never would have become as close and I would have had a miserable social life. I’ll forever be grateful to my sorority for this. Call it paying for friendships, but since my friendships have lasted post-college and I am no longer paying dues anymore, to me the argument is no longer valid. Let’s say you make friends with someone at a gym you pay for- is that also paying for friendships? I realize Greek life is far from perfect and I understand where people are coming from with the paying for friends thing. But if you weren’t part of Greek life to begin with, it’s a little hard for me to take those people seriously. And this is coming from someone who was super skeptical of frats and sororities before she joined.

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      That’s what I was trying to say above. It’s a way to meet people. I went to a small school, but had I gone to a large one, I would have considered it. I’m shy and went to a very small high school, and I think I would have needed something to introduce me to friends because I would have been overwhelmed otherwise.

  21. velvet says:

    Check out John Oliver’s take on it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDPCmmZifE8

  22. Karen says:

    My friend went to a very greek school in the south. The big name sorority on campus (that she wasn’t a part of) would strip the pledges and circle with a marker where all their fat was and what was wrong with their bodies.

    Some friends, huh?

    I just do not get it. And how the schools just look away. Rage.

  23. Vampi says:

    Pagents need to be done away with. Period.
    It is one of the few BLATANT disgusting displays of women as objects that still exists and is celebrated!!!… It seriously amazes me! *rips hair out*
    No apologists please. If it is about education, talent, intelligence etc….there would be no “swimsuit” or “evening gown” competitions.
    It reduces us to BODIES. Period.
    This is one sick, sick, sick tradition that just needs to GO!!!
    /dang…I sure am ranty today. But I MEAN it! Ugh!!!

    • GoodNamesAllTaken says:

      Yeah, I’m with you. I can’t believe we still have them. Just so stupid.

      • Vampi says:

        Also…this trick has my first name!!
        I am just SO grateful the pronunciation is different!!
        (and even though I am almost a half century old, I never cease to be irritated how many times I have to correct people on my pronounciation! I realize that there is a common way of saying it…but it made no difference even when I changed the “I” in my name to a(n) “Y”, to hopefuuly have people say it correctly! Nope! Still the same!! Gahhhh!
        My name has a LONG *I* SOUND!
        I can’t be the only one! Right? Right!!??
        /Sorry for my MANY rants today.
        (Hmmmm…maybe ONE more change to “Kyerah”????..heh…)

  24. BabyCakes says:

    Am I the only one noticing the dark, unblended nose contouring? What is that half moon shape about?

  25. GlimmerBunny says:

    This is quite interesting to me since we, at my University (in Scandinavia), have very “bad” initiation/rush weeks for the new students. They drink a LOT, embarrass themselves doing stupid tasks (many involving nudity/undress), obey the older students and generally make fools out of themselves. This is mainly focused on one evening, the “Initiation Event” but it sort of goes on for a whole week and is a great way for freshmen to meet the older students and learn about University life!

    Of course you don’t have to participate, but most people do and most (including me) love it! Compared to our initiation event this hazing doesn’t seem that bad, at least not the things mentioned here. Am I missing something?

    (And ironically, I always dreamed of going on exchange to a US College and becoming part of a Sorority (thinking that the hazing was similar to what I went through and really enjoyed). But I got a place at a University in Sydney, Australia, instead and went there last year. It was a lot of fun but they had no crazy initiation event for new students at all.)

  26. Eileen says:

    I will say this my disabled child’s school was visited by a very nice service fraternity that took the children to the indoor aquatic center at their school and did other nice things for them so they’re not all bad-now I’ve no knowledge of how members are initiated or treated amongst themselves but my father was in a service fraternity at a large big ten school himself as well

    • Felice says:

      It also depends on the chapters of the sorority. Some chapters are more serviced based while others are more social based.

  27. sepa49 says:

    Yesterday, when Miss America was being interviewed on the Billy Bush show, Access Live,, she was very evasive when questioned about her past history of abuse. I guess her platform centers on that topic, but she refused to tell Billy and his partner her connection. Twice when asked, she tried to deflect the question. Now, I am wondering what she was hiding.

  28. sepa49 says:

    Yesterday, when Miss America was being interviewed on the Billy Bush show, Access Live show, she was very evasive when questioned about her past history of abuse. I guess her platform centers on that topic, but she refused to tell Billy and his partner her connection. Twice when asked, she tried to deflect the question. Now, I am wondering what she was hiding.

  29. nanreally says:

    kick her out!!!! abuse is abuse!!!!

  30. Fatty Cakes says:

    I tried. I tried to read all of the thoughtful comments and focus on the point of the story. But I just can’t get past this: “was crowned Miss America after performing an Anna Kendrick-style cup routine to “Happy.””

    The f*ck? Is this? Foolishness. I can’t.

  31. isabelle says:

    “Do you believe her?”
    NOPE

  32. Anath Pariah says:

    Ooh, is this another “scandal” orchestrated to draw attention back to the Miss America pageant? Does anyone still even care about these?

    She might be a mean girl. Not that it matters, though, because the message behind these contests are poisonous.

  33. DasBo says:

    Wow, Miss America is really a big thing in the US and worth to discuss it here? haha LoL Who cares about the stupidity of a beauty contest.