Kira Kazantsev is the third consecutive Miss America winner from New York and had won the title of Miss New York on May 24,2014 while serving as Miss City of New York.
22 Facts About Kira Kazantsev
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Kira Kazantsev's father, George, is a general surgeon and her mother, Julia, is a real-estate broker.
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Kira Kazantsev has one brother named Boris, who is eight years younger.
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Kira Kazantsev is trilingual, being fluent in English, Russian, and Spanish.
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Kira Kazantsev graduated from Las Lomas High School in Walnut Creek, California and served as the student body president in 2009.
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Kira Kazantsev attended Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York with a triple major in political science, global studies, and geography.
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Kira Kazantsev joined the Alpha Phi sorority during her time at Hofstra, but was eventually removed from the sorority by the university due to concerns over hazing.
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Kira Kazantsev stated in interviews, after being named Miss America 2015, her desire to specialize in international law upon receiving her JD degree.
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Kira Kazantsev competed in the Miss New York 2013 pageant as Miss Cosmopolitan.
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Kira Kazantsev won the title of Miss New York 2014 and was crowned by Miss New York 2013 Amanda Mason.
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Kira Kazantsev, representing New York, was one of the 52 delegates competing in the Miss America 2015 pageant held in Atlantic City, New Jersey in September 2014.
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Kira Kazantsev's platform was "Love Shouldn't Hurt": Protecting Women Against Domestic Violence; Kazantsev stated that her personal experience with domestic violence was the inspiration for choosing this platform.
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Kira Kazantsev noted that she was happy that female politicians were already doing so, and proud to be a constituent of one of these women.
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Kira Kazantsev was crowned by outgoing Miss America 2014, Nina Davuluri, beating out first runner-up, Miss Virginia 2014, Courtney Garrett.
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Kira Kazantsev was the third consecutive Miss New York to earn the title of Miss America.
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Kira Kazantsev's win made New York the first state to have a Miss America winner three years in a row.
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Apart from the title, Kira Kazantsev won a $50,000 scholarship provided in part by Joseph Ribkoff Inc and the Miss America Organization to continue her education, which she planned to use towards law school.
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In September 2014, relying on unnamed sources, Jezebel published a piece stating that, while at Hofstra University, Kira Kazantsev was expelled from the Alpha Phi sorority for hazing.
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Kira Kazantsev was the first Miss America in 35 years to travel with the United Service Organizations and visit troops abroad.
20.
Kira Kazantsev has had summer internships at a political consultancy in Washington, DC, served as a volunteer for US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand's 2012 re-election campaign, waited tables, interned at a local affiliate of Planned Parenthood, launched a food blog and served as a hostess.
21.
Kira Kazantsev is the Children's Miracle Network Hospitals' Director of Digital Channels and Community Engagement.
22.
On September 4,2018, Kira Kazantsev announced her engagement to long-time boyfriend and Marine, Andrew Dixon.