Miss America 2015

[unarose]

The actual cup thing has actually existed much longer than the movie Pitch Perfect, it just kinda brought it back. I remember learning that cup thing in elementary school, although I had long since forgotten how to do it. We used to sit in a circle during free time and play it in a round. It didn't have a song or words to go with it, though. (more info - some of this, I didn't even know)

[sigmaceli]

http://jezebel.com/miss-america-was-...ium=socialflow

Welp. This got interesting.

[chi-o_cat]

Originally Posted by sigmaceli

http://jezebel.com/miss-america-was-...ium=socialflow

Welp. This got interesting.

Too bad the article (and subsequent comments) veered off into "this is what idiots think sororities do" territory.

[sigmaceli]

ITA. Especially with the "I heard all about hazing at Hofstra through a source that gave some examples which I detail here but who really knows what Kira actually did?" style of journalism Jezebel falls victim to regularly.

[Scully]

Originally Posted by sigmaceli

ITA. Especially with the "I heard all about hazing at Hofstra through a source that gave some examples which I detail here but who really knows what Kira actually did?" style of journalism Jezebel falls victim to regularly.

Some of the same ridiculous rumors have been floating around since I was an undergrad there 15+ years ago. And yet I have neither witnessed nor heard one first-hand account of anything close to that behavior. It's all hearsay and urban legend stuff.

[sugar and spice]

The fact that Jezebel actually cited that anonymous source like some kind of authority is so embarrassing. I'm cringing for them. It's stupid enough when normal people are gullible enough to believe hazing stories like that, but when you're a "journalist" (in quotes because, you know, Jezebel) who can't muster up even a shred of doubt when confronted with a story that far-fetched, you need to find a different job.

That said, if she did engage in (far less sensationalized kinds of) hazing to any serious degree--which seems likely if she was kicked out for it--then the calls for her resignation are legit. The idea of a Miss America who engaged in that kind of abuse of pledges makes far more of a mockery of the MAO than a Miss America who taps a cup for her talent.

[chi-o_cat]

Originally Posted by sugar and spice

The fact that Jezebel actually cited that anonymous source like some kind of authority is so embarrassing. I'm cringing for them. It's stupid enough when normal people are gullible enough to believe hazing stories like that, but when you're a "journalist" (in quotes because, you know, Jezebel) who can't muster up even a shred of doubt when confronted with a story that far-fetched, you need to find a different job.

Not only that, but when someone in the comments called her out on it, she commented back defending herself, saying that "more than one person who was at Hofstra at the same time." Were they roommates who watched the same porn video together and assumed that those things also happen at the real sororities on their campus?

[Alpha O]

While I agree with the rest of y'all about the ridiculous rumors in the Jezebel article, I found this video (posted in one of the comments) to be interesting, informative, and funny:

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

[azureblue]

Hazing behavior of any kind is unacceptable. Good for Alpha Phi for canceling this woman's membership. What a terrible role model...

[PinkSkyAtNight]

I’m not going to give weight to 90% of what is in that Jezebel article, mostly because they seem hell bent on trashing sororities, but I’ll save that for another discussion. HOWEVER, I find the facts of this entire situation to be eyebrow-raising, and not in a good way. After reading this article in the Washington Post, I had more questions than answers: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/...ly-for-hazing/

So far, here is what we know:

· Alpha Phi and Kira acknowledge that she is not a member of her sorority, despite what she listed on her profile. She was dishonest right there.


· Alpha Phi has remained entirely silent on the matter. They have not exonerated her, nor are they rushing to claim her as a member. Let’s face it, most national sororities would love to have a Miss America contestant on their roll call. And even now that she won, they aren’t saying much. That says a lot to me.


· Kira acknowledges in the Washington Post article that she failed to show up for her own standards meeting, skipping it altogether. If she claims it was only over a misunderstood e-mail, why would she fail to show up? What kind of person throws away four years of membership like that unless they are afraid of what will happen?


· Kira acknowledges that she was hazed. Yet she claims she never hazed anyone else. Did she stop the hazing, and if so, how? She has provided no explanation or further information.

Where there is smoke, there is fire.

Also want to add that I'm relieved and proud that Alpha Phi took away her membership. Maybe the Miss America Org will grow a pair and look into the matter further.

[chi-o_cat]

Originally Posted by PinkSkyAtNight

Kira acknowledges in the Washington Post article that she failed to show up for her own standards meeting, skipping it altogether. If she claims it was only over a misunderstood e-mail, why would she fail to show up? What kind of person throws away a lifetime of membership like that unless they are afraid of what will happen?

Fixed that for you.

[PinkSkyAtNight]

Originally Posted by chi-o_cat

Fixed that for you.

Thank you Very well put!

[BlueCarnation]

I'm not condoning any of her behavior, but her standards meeting was during her senior year. That could be one of the reasons she skipped it. Those of us who are on here seem to share at least one thing in common: we realize that sorority membership is for a lifetime. When you're 21, 22, and you've got 3 majors, and doing other things, you don't always think about the long term ramifications. I was very active in my chapter, but even I had kind of checked out as a senior.

We had an issue in our chapter where we needed girls to live in the house. Many of the my pledge sisters gave up their lifetime memberships so that they could live in apartments and have boys over, rather than live in a house with a cook and a maid and 55 of their friends. THIS is what we think about at that age...

We don't know the full story, and if it's true, then it's really bad. But the truth is probably somewhere in the middle and we'll never know what really happened.

[Aphigal]

Momma always said the one who is doing the most talking is trying to explain away something they've done wrong

[sugar and spice]

Originally Posted by PinkSkyAtNight

· Alpha Phi and Kira acknowledge that she is not a member of her sorority, despite what she listed on her profile. She was dishonest right there.

I don't think it's dishonest to list past positions you held on your resume. She didn't portray herself as a current member of Alpha Phi, she claimed to have held the positions of new member ed and recruitment committee president while she was in college. If she held those positions, there's no reason they shouldn't be on her resume, even if she isn't a current member. Getting kicked out of/quitting your sorority doesn't invalidate the professional skills those positions taught you.

That said, I think all signs point to her hazing those girls pretty harshly. It would be nice to get some further clarification from pledges/members/former members (there were some in the comment section of the Jezebel article which corroborated the line-ups/sleep deprivation/yelling, but it would be nice to get some more on-the-record sources), but any kind of serious hazing should be grounds for termination of her title, in my opinion.