Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 7, 1995 TAG: 9507070060
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The new Miss Virginia, Andrea Ballengee, admitted Thursday that she gave pageant officials incorrect details about her college and high school achievements, but she said she didn't intentionally mislead anyone.
``I believed in my heart that I was truly a member of Phi Beta Kappa,'' Ballengee said. ``Virginia Tech said I was not a member. I know that now.''
Pageant officials said they were satisfied with Ballengee's explanation and that the matter is over, as far as they are concerned.
``We have investigated fully every allegation that was presented in The Roanoke Times,'' said Bud Oakey, pageant spokesman. ``After a complete investigation, the board is in full support of Andrea Ballengee.''
Ballengee blamed ``miscommunication'' and ``misunderstanding'' for the five details in question on her biographical form - which she signed under an affirmation that the information was ``true to the best of my knowledge.'' The form, required for all contestants in the Miss Virginia Pageant, is submitted to the pageant's board for review. The pageant judges never saw that form, Oakey said.
Although pageant officials were satisfied with Ballengee's explanation, Tech's Phi Beta Kappa membership chairman, Tom Adriance, said he still was uneasy about Ballengee's claim that she received a letter inviting her to join the honorary society.
Adriance said the society keeps records of students who are recommended for membership, and Ballengee's name is not among them.
``The Andrea Ballengee file in my office is a big black hole,'' Adriance said.
Ballengee said Thursday that her father was trying to find the letter, and several of her friends and relatives called the newspaper to say they had seen it.
Aaron Camren of Newport News, a high school friend of Ballengee's, said he saw the letter the day she received it. Camren, who attended Radford University and happened to be in Blacksburg at the time, could not remember what date the letter was received.
``She wasn't able to go [to the induction ceremony] because of a dance class she had to teach,'' he said.
Ballengee said on her biographical form that she graduated magna cum laude. In fact, she graduated cum laude, which doesn't require as high a grade-point average. She said Thursday that her combined grades from Virginia Tech and two other schools she attended - Christopher Newport University in Newport News and Palm Beach Atlantic College in West Palm Beach, Fla. - would have given her a high enough average to graduate magna cum laude. With her grades from the three schools combined, she said, her average was 3.8.
But Tech officials said the university does not allow that.
``A student can transfer credits, but not grades,'' said Virginia Tech spokesman David Nutter. Grade-point averages are totaled only with the grades earned while attending Virginia Tech, he said. Ballengee said she had a 3.5 grade-point average from the courses she took at Tech.
Ballengee said her claim of being the ``Highest Honors Graduate'' at Tabb High School referred to a ``highest honors distinction'' she received her senior year. The distinction was for overall achievements her senior year, Tabb High School Principal Michael Tylavsky said in a statement released by the York County School Division. He confirmed, however, that Ballengee did not graduate with honors, which requires at least a 3.25 grade-point average.
Oakey said that, after a discussion with Tylavsky, the pageant board found only one discrepancy on the bio related to Ballengee's high school achievements - the Most Outstanding Female Athlete award. Tylavsky said Ballengee was the Most Outstanding Cheerleader, but not the best overall female athlete.
Ballengee said that, besides being a cheerleader, she had participated in gymnastics, and she simply forgot the exact name of the award.
Oakey said Ballengee will fill out a new bio for the Miss America Pageant, which will be held in Atlantic City, N.J., on Sept. 16.
``We plan to put this all to rest. It was a misunderstanding. It's over,'' said Margaret Baker, executive director of the Miss Virginia pageant. ``We've met with officials of the Miss America Pageant. They are satisfied.''
Ballengee said her approach to the competition will be the same as it always was: ``I'll continue to work as hard as I can.''
Staff writer Tonya Woods contributed information to this story.
by CNB