Seniors Brandon Fuentes and Vanessa Addison were crowned University of Arizona Homecoming king and queen Friday.
Fuentes was nominated to the Homecoming court by Arizona Ambassadors, and Addison was nominated by UA Chemistry and Biochemistry Ambassadors.
The top five nominees for Homecoming king were Adam Hauck, Brandon Fuentes, Ben Kissel, Quentin Stepp and Elijah Greenfield. The top five nominees for Homecoming queen included Vanessa Addison, Kiera Connolly, Alexia Esquivel, Giorgia Menetre and Morgan Whitesell.
The Mortar Board is responsible for picking the top five kings, while Bobcats Senior Honorary is responsible for selecting the top five candidates for queen. Then from these ten final candidates, the UA student body gets the opportunity to vote for king and queen.
According to Fuentes, the candidates for king were narrowed down from 18 to five by the Mortar Board through a series of mixers, events and interviews. One of these events included a beauty pageant night, where candidates for king were asked to answer questions, give an elevator pitch and participate in a talent show.
Fuentes said he was grateful that this opportunity allowed him to meet new people and establish bonds in such a short period of time.
“One of my favorite things so far is that I met a lot of the other queens, a lot of the other Bobcat members just last week and we became so close, super fast,” Fuentes said. “We have nothing but respect for each other, and like a lot of love for each other that just came out of nowhere.”
Addison expressed a similar sentiment, thankful for this opportunity as a way to meet new people and broaden perspectives.
“I feel so privileged to have been able to meet these members of my campus who are just the most outstanding individuals and outstanding representations of their respective organizations and really learn from them and learn from their qualities of leadership,” Addison said.
A primary duty of these now-crowned Homecoming king and queen is to serve as models and ambassadors for the university.
“There’s a large number of students who believe that I embody what it means to be a Wildcat,” Fuentes said. “I’m very proud of this, because I love this university so much.”
Beyond this representation, Addison said she saw the nomination and title as a way to express gratitude for the community that has supported her.
“The title of Homecoming queen is personally much more about being able to recognize the University of Arizona community, and those in the community who have supported me throughout my education in my time here,” Addison said. “One of the reasons that I wanted to become Homecoming queen, beyond the traditions and the legacy that accompany the title, is because I saw this as a means to really recognize the support system that I received here at the University of Arizona.”
Fuentes and Addison also expressed appreciation towards the Mortar Board and Bobcats Senior Honorary, the groups that nominated them, and their fellow nominees.
“I want to recognize the incredible faculty of the CBC department … the University of Arizona Mortar Board should definitely be recognized, and in particular the Homecoming committee … they should be absolutely commended for their leadership and their commitment in organizing many of the Homecoming festivities that I was very fortunate to be a part of,” Addison said. “I also owe my sincere gratitude to all those who voted. I want to recognize the other incredible king and queen nominees, who throughout this process I have learned so much from and been so inspired by, and I’m so grateful to have met them and to really call them my friends now.”
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