On Monday, amid the gleam of gowns and suits, Eastern will crown a new batch of Homecoming royalty.

Homecoming Week kicks off with the Homecoming Court Coronation at 7 p.m. in the McAfee Gymnasium.

With the two-hour ceremony, the University Board Homecoming Committee will announce the winners of all the student court positions, the community positions of Little Prince and Little Princess for elementary school-aged children, as well as the Faculty King and Queen.

Danielle Gangas, a senior English major and co-chair on the University Board’s Homecoming Committee, organizes the election and coronation and said it will start with thanks to special guests and a roll call for the registered student organizations to show school spirit.

Gangas said in order to select the Little Prince and Little Princess, parents of the candidates filled out a form online and then had to make a YouTube video about why they should win the contest.

“The kids talk or perform something in the video,” Gangas said.

After the Little Prince and Little Princess are announced, the committee will then announce the Faculty King and Queen, each of whom is nominated by a student via an online application.

“Our main criteria for them are Eastern spirit and how they connect with their students,” Gangas said. “We’re really looking for professors who show they care about Eastern and their students.”

The final announcements of the night will be the Homecoming King, Queen, Prince and Princess after a final role call, and the candidates are announced with a brief biography.

Gangas said the biographies give the audience a brief glimpse of who each candidate is and are compiled from the candidates own applications.

“The emcees will read them as each candidate walks down,” Gangas said. “A lot of families come to see their students so it is nice for them to hear the students recognized.”

She said the reasoning for the final roll call before the announcement is to get the “Thank yous” out before the crowd gets too rowdy after the final announcement.

Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-2812 or alwywialowski@eiu.edu.