Spelman queen for a day gives up crown

<p>The woman mistakenly crowned Miss Spelman College from a vote-counting error was replaced by the correct contestant, school officials said Friday.</p><p>Ashley Moss, a comparative women's studies major, has been named new queen at Spelman this year over Terricha Bradley, who initially was told she won the title. The college is scheduled to induct Moss and her court Tuesday.</p><p>"I'm really excited about the opportunity to reach out to my Spelman sisters, the Atlanta University Center and the community," said Moss, a junior from Fairfax, Va.</p><p>Spelman postponed the previous ceremony until it completed the investigation.</p><p>Bradley won the coveted crown on April 8. The next day, she was asked to return the title after a school official found the that final scores didn't include more than 900 online votes students cast in February.</p><p>But Bradley, a Cleveland native, symbolically believes she is still Miss Spelman.</p><p>"I'm holding onto my dignity and the fact I won the objective portion of the pageant," Bradley said. "I still feel like a winner. I don't feel like I've lost anything at all, so I won't have the loser attitude."</p><p>Reginald Lewis, a Miss Spelman pageant judge, said the college's decision was fair. He said Bradley was the judges' favorite, but Moss won mostly off popular votes.</p><p>Lewis suggests Spelman could eliminate confusion by choosing future beauty queens either through a pageant or a popularity contest _ not both.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9e84)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/4/125520