As first reported, Zeta Tau Alpha, a predominantly white sorority, won first place in the nationsl Sprite Step Off competition. It was later discovered that there had been a scoring discrepency which led to an unresolved issue. In order to correct the issue, Sprite released a statement which awarded Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, who finished second place, with a first place ruling which leads to them being co-winners with Zeta Tau Alpha.
Here is the official statement from Sprite:
"
After the competition, we conducted a post-competition review and discovered a scoring discrepancy. There is no conclusive interpretation, nor definitive resolution for the discrepancy.
Sprite is committed to upholding the honesty and integrity of the competition. Because the scoring discrepancy cannot be resolved and due to the extremely narrow margin between the first and second place winning sororities, we believe that the appropriate course of action is to name both Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Tau Chapter and Zeta Tau Alpha, Epsilon Chapter, co-first place winners of the Sprite Step Off. Accordingly, we will increase Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Tau Chapter's scholarship prize to $100,000, consistent with first prize winnings.
Sprite Step Off was created for the primary purpose of awarding scholarships and supporting talented college students in their quest for higher education."
Posted By: Reginald Culpepper
Friday, February 26th 2010 at 1:28PM
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