There’s more to the royal system than most students think. Homecoming is strung together by a wide variety of people on campus; from students to alums, these Wildcats want to make sure the 101st year of Homecoming is perfect. Some Homecoming nominees discussed how they became a candidate and what it takes to become king or queen at the UA.
“The Bobcat Senior Honorary supervises the Queen’s court and Mortar Board Senior Honorary supervises the King’s court of the royal system,” wrote Jill Hall, the vice president of the University of Arizona Alumni Association, in an email interview. “In order to go through the process of running for Homecoming King or Queen, the candidates are nominated by a club, organization, group, chapter or honorary on campus. Kings and Queens are selected based on scholarship, leadership, university involvement, community services and commitment to the UA.”
Every organization nominates up to two senior ladies and two senior gentlemen. After being nominated, candidates fill out an essay-based application, submit a resume and attend a mixer for the other nominees to see their competition, get to know members of the Bobcats Senior Honorary and be interviewed.
The interview is based off a series of questions, such as, “Why do you want to be Homecoming King or Queen?” and, “What is the biggest lesson you have learned at the UA?”
Based off the nominee’s score from both the interview and application, the top 25 nominees are selected for a final costume mixer. For the Queens, this year’s theme was “A for Arizona,” which meant the nominees were to dress up as something fun and outgoing that begins with the first letter of their name.
“I dressed as a bald eagle and was really excited to go all out on my costume,” wrote UA dance senior Brooke Brady in an email interview. “Most of the applicants did the same.”
For the King’s costume mixer, all the candidates were asked to dress as their favorite king, one they think is a role model. Douglas Loftus, a senior studying marketing and entrepreneurship, wrote in an email interview that he dressed up as Hank Hill from “King of the Hill.” Loftus and Brady were nominated by the Chain Gang Junior Honorary, for which Loftus served as president last year.
The costume mixer is presented to select the final five ladies and gentlemen who would make up the Homecoming court. The specifics of scoring applications, resumes, interviews and mixers are handled by the Bobcat Senior Honorary and Mortar Board Senior Honorary selection chairs.
“It’s been a huge tradition in my sorority that the president is always nominated to run for Homecoming Queen,” wrote Shay Berges, a criminal justice senior, in an email interview. “I am lucky enough to be on the Homecoming court for this huge Greek 100 Homecoming and could not be more excited! I absolutely love UA and all that it offers.”
All candidates campaign via social media. Followers and friends support them by posting pictures of the candidates to help their campaign grow. Brady said that both the organization that nominated her and the dance program are endorsing her. She plans to gain support from a few Greek houses and wants to get her name and face out to as many organizations as possible.
The Homecoming court attended a few Greek houses Monday during their chapter meetings, where they campaigned and potentially spread the word. Anyone with a UA NetID was able to vote for their favorite King and Queen on Wednesday from 12 a.m. to Friday at 12:01 a.m. by visiting arizonaalumni.com/royals.
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