After a several week-long nomination process, school-wide voting narrowed the 10 Homecoming nominees down to the final two.
Selena Martinez, senior nursing major, and Matt Mahr, senior theater education major were crowned this year’s Homecoming royalty during the Saturday football game against Missouri Western.
“I think I am still in shock,” Martinez said. “I still don’t know if my name was called. It was so exciting. I am really proud to represent (ESU).”
Moira Pyle and Wyatt Sander, alumni and the 2017 Homecoming Queen and King, presented the tiara and crown to Martinez and Mahr during the halftime show.
“It was so much fun,” Pyle said. “I was so glad to be able to come back for the ceremony and all the Homecoming festivities and getting to crown the next queen and get to be involved this year.”
Martinez and Mahr won based on ESU student votes. Nominations for the Homecoming court royalty were due Monday, Oct. 1. Nominees had to be seniors (90+ hours, undergraduates) with a 3.0 or better GPA. Organizations such as fraternities and sororities could only nominate 10 percent of their male and 10 percent of their female members. Undergraduate students received an ESU email ballot on noon Wednesday, Oct. 17. Voting for homecoming ended 3 days later on Friday, Oct. 19 at noon.
“It was just wild,” Mahr said. “I just was not expecting this at all, but this experience is an awesome one I was just surprised that not only did we both win but so did our fraternities and sororities for the can the bods.”
ESU homecoming is dated back as far as 1916 though the homecoming king and queen have not always been known as king and queen, in 1936 they renamed the Homecoming
queen to Peggy Pedagog. The Peggy Pedagog was a contest held until 1970 and featured two queens. Homecoming was later canceled until 1980s when
President Glennon reopened the Homecoming royalty.
“To be a part of a tradition that has gone back many years is just an amazing feeling…to be able to give the crown to the new king is something I was happy to be a part of,” Sander said.
