As students and alumni come together to cheer on the Minutemen against Villanova and reunite with former classmates, they will also be presented with the University’s first ever Homecoming King and Queen.
The first ever Homecoming Royalty was organized by Ben Johnson, Secretary of Finance in SGA and Charles Flowers III, president of UPC.
Johnson said he proposed incorporating Homecoming Royalty into this weekend’s proceedings because he wanted to improve student enthusiasm and involvement in Homecoming Weekend as well as recognize outstanding student leaders on campus.
Nominees were juniors and seniors picked from various Registered Student Organizations, Sororities and Fraternities. Johnson said 10 nominees were picked from the top 20 through an interview process with the Homecoming Committee and the Center for Student Development. He said that those who demonstrated good school spirit and leadership qualities were chosen.
Voting is now closed, but for anyone who is interested, information about the top 10 nominees is available on the SGA website. He said close to 2000 people voted.
The crowning of the King and Queen will take place on Saturday during the first touchdown timeout in the first quarter of the Homecoming football game against Villanova.
Johnson said that this first ever Homecoming Royalty event has gone well so far but has room for improvement in the future. He said it wouldn’t have been possible without Flowers from UPC, the Center for Student Development and his colleagues in the SGA.
The nominees for King are Alex Cidado, a senior political science major and president of Delta Chi, with plans to join the army and attend law school, Timothy Joseph, senior kinesiology major and representative of Haiti American Student Association (HASA), Benjamin Gregson Chase, a junior public health and biology major who is philanthropy chair of Pi Kappa Phi who wants to either pursue medical school or work for the American Cancer Association, Akshay Kapoor, a junior public health major on the pre-med track as well as an active member of SGA and Jason Asirifi, a civil engineer major member of Alpha Phi Alpha and self-proclaimed “ fun easy going person.”
The nominees for Queen are Brooke Myones, a senior accounting and legal studies major and creator of the UMass Dance Club and treasurer of SGA, Marie Robert, senior political science major pursuing her Masters in education and the National Communication Coordinator for Residence Hall Association as well as president of HASA, Stacey Hronowski, a legal studies and Psychology major and president of Mock Trial, Sarah Holtzer, senior Commonwealth Honors College architecture major and president of Panhellenic Council, and Amy Gallagher, senior nutrition major and Executive Vice President of Sigma Kappa.
