NEW YORK — Miss America says she was removed from her college sorority over a letter that made light of hazing, but she denies a report that she was involved in aggressively hazing fellow students.

Kira Kazantsev said on ABC's "Good Morning America" Tuesday that she was asked to leave the Alpha Phi sorority at Hofstra University after sending an email to alumni that included what she said was a joke about making an event "scary" for pledges.

The website Jezebel reported Monday, based on an anonymous source, that Kazantsev was involved with aggressively hazing pledges.

Kazantsev says she was hazed as a pledge and that she took part in some hazing activities. She cited a culture of hazing at Hofstra.

The Miss America organization says that Kazantsev was open with them about being terminated from the sorority.