The newly crowned Miss America has some questions to answer, concerning her involvement with hazing rituals at Hofstra University. Incidents of which that resulted in her being dismissed from the Alpha Phi sorority.

The accusations so damning, 23 year old Kira Kazantsev went on ABC’s Good Morning America on Tuesday to respond to a Jezebel report claiming she made recruits’ lives “a living hell” during her tenure as Alpha Phi’s Recruitment Committee President.

“They’re just not true,” claimed Kazantsev. “I’m incredibly hurt that someone has said these things. Under the broad definition of hazing, yes, I was involved in some of those activities while at Hofstra. I came in as an impressionable freshman, everybody wants to be a part of something, and at the time, unfortunately, that was just the culture of the organization.”

The beauty queen then took to her blog to further clarify her actions at the time. “I was never involved with any name-calling or use of profanity toward a girl during my time with the sorority,” wrote Kazantsev. “I was never involved in any physical hazing or any degradation of physical appearance of any kind. This has all been immensely taken out of context and manipulated purposefully because I am now in a public position.”

She went on to describe some of the behavior she endured herself as a recruit entering the sorority, but her explanation downplayed the severity of what was once the norm but is no longer permitted by the sorority or Hofstra University.

“The worst of the so-called hazing was standing in a line reciting information, a few sleepless nights, and crafting,” said Kazantsev, on her blog. “I was yelled at a few times. That year, the sorority got in trouble for those actions and was disciplined by both Hofstra and the national organization. However, after being brought up through that process, my class thought the only way to gain respect in the sorority was to go through it or be seen as weak.”

The reason for her termination, however, is more succinct. During her senior year, the future Miss America sent an email containing a joke that was misconstrued and “taken out of context.” She said she had planned to “make the evening scary for the pledges”. That email was sent directly to the Alpha Phi national office. Her termination, according to Kazantsev, was a result of her focus on graduation and moving to New York and not the sorority’s concerns over her email.

“The national office summoned me for a judiciary hearing. At the time, it was the end of the school year. Finals, graduation, and moving to New York City were at the forefront of my concerns. Based on the fact that I did not attend this hearing that was the official reason given for my termination.”

But Kazantsev would prefer to look forward, now that she is the reigning Miss America. She plans to “take this negative and turn it into a positive.”

“All I can do is sit here and be honest, and share that, yes, I was involved under the broad definition at some point of hazing.”