THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 23, 1995 TAG: 9507230042
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B4 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: YORK LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Andrea Ballengee, the deposed Miss Virginia, says her claim to be a first-year law student at the University of Miami is accurate because the school accepted her as an alternate for the fall semester.
Ballengee says the law school claim is one of the ``new facts'' pageant officials were talking about when they stripped her of the Miss Virginia title last week.
As an alternate, Miss Ballengee is not guaranteed enrollment in the fall until school officials learn next month how many applicants accept admission.
``My analogy is, it's like a football team. If you're an alternate, you're still on the team,'' Ballengee told the Daily Press of Newport News in an interview Friday.
Ballengee provided The Associated Press a copy of a letter from Michael L. Goodnight, the law school's admissions director, saying she had been selected as an alternate and offering to place her on a waiting list.
``We regret that the keen competition for seats in next fall's entering class makes it impossible for us to grant you admission at this time,'' Goodnight wrote in the letter, dated May 15.
Ballengee returned a card to place her name on the waiting list.
But during the Miss Virginia pageant, Ballengee made no distinction between being on a waiting list and being enrolled. During the final night of competition, when contestants introduce themselves to the audience, Ballengee exuberantly described herself as ``Miss Newport News, a first-year law student at the University of Miami.''
Ballengee's problems began with news reports that she embellished her resume, claiming academic honors she did not receive. Pageant officials initially dismissed the discrepancies as honest mistakes and pledged to support Ballengee.
But on Thursday they announced they were taking her crown because of ``new facts'' that had come to light. They did not elaborate.
Ballengee said pageant officials were aware that she was an alternate for law school. Pageant officials said they were not.
Ballengee told the Daily Press that her conscience is clear, and she would still fill out her Miss Virginia application the same way.
``I'm an honest person,'' she said. ``I had facts to support what I wrote down. Maybe I have remorse about how it all was handled.''
Ballengee portrayed herself as a victim of skittish pageant officials who caved in to bad publicity and pressure from Miss America officials in Atlantic City, N.J. She said she wanted to defend herself but was muzzled by pageant officials.
``It's been heartbreaking,'' she said. ``I've wanted so much to give the facts. I felt that if I was able to talk to the press, maybe I could have cleared all the questions and things would have gone on fine.''
Ballengee said Saturday in a telephone interview with the AP from a New York City hotel room that she was not sure if she would seek legal action against the pageant.
Pageant officials' initial support of Ballengee was criticized by Virginians who derided the pageant for rationalizing what they saw as lies.
KEYWORDS: MISS VIRGINIA PAGEANT WINNER by CNB