West Virginia University crowns two female students as its ‘Homecoming Royalty’ for the first time ever – after ditching traditional ‘king’ and ‘queen’ titles to be more inclusive
- WVU had previously done away with requirements that Homecoming King had to be male and Queen had to be female
- This year, they changed the top honors to be called Homecoming Royalty with no gender requirement in an effort to be more inclusive
- The change came in response to calls from students and has been met with a positive reaction
- Five women and two men were named to Homecoming Court
- Seniors Raimah Hossain and Kylie A. Parker, both 21, were each crowned with tiaras at Saturday’s football game
West Virginia University is the latest school to do away with the titles of Homecoming King and Queen, and this year named two female students as its first-ever ‘Homecoming Royalty.’
Seniors Raimah Hossain and Kylie A. Parker, both 21, were each crowned with tiaras at Saturday’s football game, where the WVU Mountaineers played the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
Speaking to Good Morning America, a representative for the school explained how students’ initiative led them to create a more inclusive homecoming court, and its first year has already been a success.
West Virginia University is the latest school to do away with the titles of Homecoming King and Queen, and this year named two female students as its first-ever ‘Homecoming Royalty’
‘Some of our students had approached our office about making our homecoming a little bit more inclusive in nature,’ West Virginia University’s director of student engagement and leadership, Thahn Le, told GMA
‘In previous years, we had a king and queen but we actually removed the gender requirement in that.
‘So this year, we decided to take it a step further with the students and said, “Okay, let’s just take out the king and queen all together and let’s just move forward with the homecoming royalty court.”‘
The process was similar to in years past, but with no gender requirements or rules, Students submitted applications, and those who met academic criteria and are involved around camps got interviews with faculty and fellow students.
The frontrunners: The applicants were ultimately down to a Homecoming Court of seven people: five women and two men
‘We wanted to kind of remove any kind of barriers, whether it be gender or anything else for them to apply,’ Le said.
The applicants were ultimately down to a Homecoming Court of seven people: five women and two men.
After voting, Hossain and Parker were named the winners.
Hossain is a biomedical engineering student minoring in history originally from Morgantown, West Virginia, which is where WVU is located.
She is also the inclusion coordinator for the Student Government Association, an ambassador for the Honors College, a member of Camp Kesem at WVU, a Neil S. Bucklew Scholar and Diversity Scholar., a participant in the WVU Summer Undergraduate Research Experience, and was a ‘Say it Loud’ TedxWVU speaker in 2020, according to WVNews.
Meanwhile, Parker is an Exercise Physiology major from Wheeling, West Virginia. She is also in the Honors College EXCEL Program, the president of the Chi Omega sorority, a member of the Exercise Physiology Club, a peer mentor, and a teaching assistant for the Honors College.
Winner #1: Raimah Hossain is a biomedical engineering student minoring in history originally from Morgantown, West Virginia, which is where WVU is located
Winner #2: Kylie A. Parker is an Exercise Physiology major from Wheeling, West Virginia
She is the recipient of the Scholarship of Distinction, Arista Cup (Panhellenic) and has been selected for the Nancy Walton Laurie Leadership Institute.
‘I definitely feel honored to be making this step with WVU to a more inclusive future for all students,’ Parker said.
‘I am so excited to look back in 20 years and represent the beginning of a new tradition that appreciates and includes all people. Tradition is so important and I’m so proud of WVU for making strides in the right direction.’
Le said the new Homecoming Royalty titles have been met with a positive reaction on campus.