The Wayne State College 2019 homecoming court was announced by email Friday, Sept. 27.

This year’s homecoming court consists of Jonathon Laner and Morgan Sudbeck representing Lambda Pi Eta, Montana Hill and Miguel Galvan representing Active Minds, London Bercey and Allie Knoepfler representing WSEAN, Natalie Gasseling representing Philomatheans, Gina Blackman representing Cardinal Key, Micah Schut representing NAfME, Karly Smith representing RHA, Emmy Mills representing Navigators, and Adam Smith representing PRIDE.

Each member of the homecoming court went through an interview process conducted by Melanie Loggins and Johanna Barnes last week. Four men and eight women made the cut.

“I believe they were looking for someone that people can relate to the wider populous and provide representation of every club,” Miguel Galvan, member of Active Minds, said.

Gina Blackman, president of Cardinal Key, said she thinks students look for a candidate that is involved on campus, but also in the community, who represents the WSC student body in a positive light.

“Homecoming is all about the alumni coming back to celebrate the time they spent here at Wayne State and the legacy they helped build,” Blackman said. “I love that I can be a part of that legacy and continue the Homecoming tradition.”

However, WSC strayed from tradition this year by no longer using the terms “king” and “queen,” and instead, the two winners will be named “royalty.” This allows for the possibility of two males or two females to win. There are mixed feelings about the change.

“The change is definitely interesting and goes away from tradition, but I feel if this is what people wanted, then there’s not much we can really do to push back,” Galvan said. “As a result of this, there is definitely more females on the court. It skews things slightly.”

“Going with neutral gender terms allows us to steer clear of stereotypes and make people feel comfortable and accepted for who they are,” Blackman said.
There is a lot of confusion on this rule change and what it entails.

“If people are going to be voting with the traditional mindset of that we need a king and a queen, then any guy who managed to make it on to the royalty court will just have a better chance of winning,” Galvan said.

Voting is open until Wednesday, Oct. 2 on Survey Monkey. The voting link can be accessed through students’ WSC email.

The coronation ceremony will take place at the homecoming football game during halftime Oct. 5.