The Grand Ballroom in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union was decked out with country-themed decorations and packed with Eastern students, faculty and community members to celebrate the coronation of homecoming royalty Monday.
The event started a bit after 7 p.m. and ran for approximately an hour.
The room was buzzing with excitement regarding the event. Many audience members were wearing country-themed attire such as cowboy hats and boots. Bedazzled belts and jeans were also commonplace.
The event opened with Homecoming Committee members giving a recap of the events for the upcoming week. The committee also broke down the criteria for selection of candidates.
University President Jay Gatrell and Vice President of Student Affairs Anne Flaherty warmed up the crowd by encouraging a sense of community and attendance for this week’s athletic events.
The candidates for homecoming prince and princess were introduced shortly after. Four candidates ran for each position with sophomore history education major Kijana Woods crowned homecoming prince.
Woods said he wanted to run for homecoming prince for a variety of reasons.
“I wanted to run for homecoming prince to positively represent every part of campus I’m involved in, I knew from the start this was bigger than me; my fraternity, my residence hall, my organizations, etc.,” he said. “I wanted to give light to the groups of people on this campus that are doing good that don’t often get recognition.”
He had advice for those who want to run for homecoming royalty in the future.
“My advice for aspiring homecoming princes, is to be so painfully true to yourself without regret,” Woods said. “My campaigning material I believe was a large part of winning, and it consisted of humorous and slightly embarrassing photos of me asking for votes. A little bit of creativity and a lot of fun goes a long way.”
Three candidates were nominated for homecoming king with a whopping 11 candidates nominated for homecoming queen.
Senior environmental biology major Kevin Sinram, a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, was crowned king. Ashley Mickens, a senior majoring in human services, was crowned queen.
Mickens ran for queen as a way to add to her involvement on campus. She was surprised yet excited when she was selected to run.
“When I was selected to run, I was in shock because I didn’t think I’d be the type to run for homecoming,” she said.
Mickens said she is usually the kind of person who works behind the scenes to get things done, especially at the start of campaigning.
“It was really fun because I got to step out of my comfort zone,” she said. “Being crowned made me really nervous since all the attention was on the stage, but I made sure to stay humble throughout the entire campaign because I didn’t know what the results would be. In the end, I was glad I enjoyed myself.”
She also had advice for those who want to run for homecoming royalty.
“Be your true self, have fun, and show everyone what you can do as an EIU Panther,” Mickens said. “Embrace the experience and let your personality shine through. It’s a great opportunity to represent your school and make lasting memories.”
Jacob Hamm can be reached at 581-2812 or at jmhamm@eiu.edu.
