Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, July 21, 1995 TAG: 9507210065
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SHANNON D. HARRINGTON AND F.J. GALLAGHER STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
Additional facts had been discovered, they said, but they would not elaborate.
``New facts have come to the board's attention, which when considered in light of recent events, caused the board to reconsider Miss Ballengee's ability to represent the Miss Virginia scholarship pageant,'' pageant President Robert Bennett said at a news conference.
Less than three hours later, as she prepared to move out of the Southwest Roanoke County apartment given to her by the pageant, Ballengee said the decision was a surprise to her.
``I don't know what new information they may have,'' she said with a hint of a smile. ``I understand they called a meeting and then told me this morning. I didn't expect it.''
But pageant board members say Ballengee was told why her crown was being taken away.
``She knows exactly what's going on,'' said Harlen Gudger, a board member who was sent to retrieve two of the most visible awards Ballengee received from the pageant: a 1995 Chevrolet Camaro and the crown, which he carried from her apartment in a plastic shopping bag. ``We've talked with her about our concerns and she knows what they are.
``We wouldn't do it without telling her about it. We just don't operate that way,'' Gudger said.
Board member Steve Musselwhite also said Ballengee was given an explanation for her removal.
``Andrea has been told and she knows full well,'' he said.
WDBJ (Channel 7) reported Thursday night that an unidentified source told them the last straw for pageant officials came when they learned she had not been accepted to the University of Miami Law School. Ballengee had billed herself as a first-year law student during the pageant.
Pageant spokesman Bud Oakey said the pageant's board of directors decided not to reveal what new facts they discovered.
``Concerning those issues, legal counsel has advised, and as a board we agreed, that it's not in either her best interest or our interest to discuss those issues,'' Oakey said.
Board members contacted by reporters would not comment.
Bennett, the pageant president, said Ballengee was given an opportunity to resign, but refused.
In addition to losing the car - which she would have had use of for the year of her reign - she also loses other prizes, including her personal cellular phone.
She will not, however, lose the $7,500 scholarship awarded by the pageant.
Oakey said the pageant could not take away her scholarship because the contract between Ballengee and the pageant forbids it. Oakey said the contract also followed the guidelines of the Miss America pageant.
The Miss Virginia Pageant will thoroughly review the credentials of runner-up Amber Medlin before any successor to the crown is named. Medlin, Miss Virginia Beach, could receive the crown after her third year of competition in the pageant.
``She is not Miss Virginia, yet,'' Oakey said.
The pageant will verify Medlin's state finalist fact sheet, the same form from which questions about Ballengee's credentials arose. Pageant president Bennett said the announcement of the new Miss Virginia should come within the next week.
Ballengee's challenged fact sheet included her claims to be a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society, to be a magna cum laude graduate of Virginia Tech, and to have received her high school's Outstanding Female Athlete Award.
Ballengee admitted that she was not a member of Phi Beta Kappa, but claimed that she received a letter of invitation to the society. Virginia Tech's Phi Beta Kappa membership chairman said she was never sent a letter.
Magna cum laude, she said, is what she would have been qualified for if Virginia Tech had calculated grades from two other schools she attended into her overall grade-point average. Virginia Tech officials, however, said they did not operate that way.
Ballengee also admitted that she did not receive the Most Outstanding Female Athlete Award, saying she got it confused with the Most Outstanding Cheerleader Award, which she did receive.
After a complete investigation of those allegations, pageant officials stated July 6 that they were satisfied with Ballengee's explanations. They continued to verify other information on her fact sheet, however.
Board member Musselwhite said new information was brought to his attention about three to four days ago by a pageant official. ``It was just further research into different things that was done by a number of people, both inside and outside the pageant,'' he said.
``There were a couple of issues that were hard to explain.''
The pageant board met at 8 a.m. Thursday to vote on whether the crown should be taken away. The vote was unanimous, pageant officials said, with 18 of 20 members present. Ballengee was invited to meet with the board at 8:30 with her own attorney.
``The board's action was taken to protect the dignity and honor of the Miss Virginia pageant,'' Bennett said.
The announcement came about 11:30 a.m. About three hours later, after one of Ballengee's friends packed her belongings in his car, they both left the Southwest Roanoke County apartment.
Her mother, Pat Ballengee, said her daughter said she was not given all the details of the situation.
``When she went into the board room, she was not allowed to ask questions and was given no explanation,'' Pat Ballengee said.
Ballengee's mother said she, too, was surprised with the board's decision.
``I am absolutely shocked,'' she said. ``For 21 days, the Miss Virginia people told her they would support her. I have been present when they said this to her. Then the board told her now they were taking her crown away?''
Pat Ballengee suggested that the Miss Virginia pageant had received pressure from Miss America pageant officials to oust her daughter.
``They did it to save their jobs,'' she said.
Miss America officials in Atlantic City, N.J., would not comment, referring all questions to Margaret Baker of Roanoke, executive director of the Miss Virginia pageant.
Staff writer Dwayne Yancey and The Associated Press contributed information to this story.
by CNB