Newly crowned Miss America Kira Kazantsev is facing serious controversy less than two weeks into her reign, as it was reported Monday that she kicked out of her college sorority for abusively hazing pledges. The beauty queen is now striking back, insisting that the rumors are false. She says she was expelled from the sorority for merely joking about hazing in an email, and failing to attend a judiciary hearing that she was summoned to after the message was forwarded to sorority officials. She even says that her accuser is now doing to her what she was “wrongfully accused of.”

Jezebel originally reported Kazantsev was booted from Alpha Phi after using her positions as Recruitment Committee President and New Member Educator to verbally degrade pledges, and force them to perform extreme physical tasks to the point of bruising and physical exhaustion. Her college, Hofstra University was said to have launched a months long investigation into reports of this behavior, which culminated in her being banned from all Greek-life activities. In a blog post published on Tuesday, though, Kazantsev insists the circumstances surrounding her dismissal were “taken out of context and manipulated purposefully.”

Katzantsev explains in her post that when she began attending Hofstra, “I decided to join a sorority for the social life, but I also thought I was joining a legacy of success and philanthropy.” She goes on to say, “The worst of the so-called hazing was standing in line reciting information, a few sleepless nights, and crafting,” and that “I was yelled at a few times.” She says that later, as New Member Educator, “I did oversee some pledging events as part of my job description, similar to those described above.”

Regarding her termination, Katzantsev says that in an email asking alumni to attend an event, “I joked that we could make the evening scary for the pledge.” She insists, “That statement was a joke – we never intended to engage in the wrongful behavior that I have been accused of – and the alumni event I spoke of never came to fruition anyway.”

Katzantsev says that after someone forwarded the email to the national organization, “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.” She adds that, “The nameless source that is saying these things is doing exactly what it is I was wrongly accused of.”

Hofstra University has been unable to confirm or deny any of the reports regarding this matter, due Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations. When asked by Jezebel for a comment on the initial story, the Miss America Organization simply said that “Kira has been fully transparent” with them, and “It’s unfortunate that this incident has been exploited to create a story line that distracts from what we should be focusing on: Kira’s Impressive academic achievements at Hofstra University.”