The King of Hearts was dethroned Thursday night.
Alpha Phi sorority's annual interfraternity beauty pageant, which began at 7 p.m. in Page Auditorium, met an early end when stage managers shut down the event after an intoxicated contestant smashed a guitar on stage.
Page Auditorium staff members ordered the audience of about 500 to vacate the venue midway through the talent portion of the program in response to "unsafe behavior on stage," said the stage manager for the show, who declined to be named.
"What [this contestant] did was not acceptable as a member of a fraternity, as a member of the greek community or as a member of the University," said junior Erika Manderscheid, president of the Panhellenic Council and a judge at the event.
Interfraternity Council President Eric Kaufman, a junior, condemned the behavior and said he expects disciplinary action associated with the incident to be handled internally by IFC.
"This is not how men at Duke in fraternities carry themselves," he said.
The University may also get involved through judicial action, Dean of Students Sue Wasiolek said. Although charges against fraternities go through the IFC, if discipline is taken against an individual it will likely be handled by Judicial Affairs, she added.
"I'm anticipating a parallel investigation," she said.
The King of Hearts event is the culmination of Alpha Phi's "Heart Week," a series of philanthropic events that raise money for women's cardiac care. In previous years, the pageant has taken place at Shooters II, but organizers moved the event on campus this year to change the tone and encourage wider campus involvement, said junior Catherine Butsch, an Alpha Phi member who organized the event and is an associate editor for The Chronicle.
In an e-mail to IFC presidents last week, King of Hearts organizers forbad contestants or other fraternity members from consuming alcohol at the event and stated that they could be ejected for obvious intoxication and obnoxious behavior. Contestants were asked to arrive one hour prior to the start of the event in order to screen their routines for vulgarity and to make sure no contestants had been drinking excessively, said junior Rae Krucoff, Alpha Phi's vice president of marketing.
"Ultimately it's not our responsibility to babysit them," said Alpha Phi President Jill McVicar, a junior.
When the contestant in question stumbled through the first few chords of his guitar performance, it was apparent to audience members that something was amiss. The crowd fell silent as the contestant repeatedly bashed the instrument against the ground until it broke apart.
"The switch to Page was great because it was a more calm atmosphere," junior John Stokes said. "We were all very much enjoying ourselves... and then we saw [him] come up there and screw it all up."
After the show, Alpha Phi members reassembled at George's Garage for an after-party to continue the night's festivities, despite the setback.
Julia Love contributed reporting.
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