Josie Johnson and Christian Hall are MU’s 2023 Homecoming queen and king, respectively. MU’s 2023 homecoming court took their walk onto Faurot Field alongside their escorts during halftime of the Missouri Tigers vs. South Carolina Gamecocks football game on Saturday, October 21. 

There were 10 nominees in total: Christian Hall, Alana Hayes, Daniel Daugherty, Elly Smith, Jayden Reyes, Josie Johnson, Sam Varnon, Reagan Swatosh, Steven Klumb and Tabitha Crain. 

There is a lengthy process of interviews and volunteer work that the Homecoming Court has to go through leading up to the queen and king’s announcement. All of the nominees applied to be a part of the Homecoming Court in early August and had to go through two rounds of interviews including solo and partner interviews. 

Based on the interviewing process, the top 30 applicants are announced. Then, Mizzou Homecoming narrowed the competition down to ten nominees in total — five queen and five king nominees. From then on, the nominees volunteer and are involved with homecoming fundraising events such as the Homecoming Blood Drive and the Tiger Food Fight. 

Homecoming Queen Josie Johnson is a senior studying political science and economics from Boonville, Missouri. She represented Marching Mizzou. 

Johnson plays piccolo and has been performing in marching band for eight years, including all four years at MU. Johnson is also involved with organizations such as the Missouri Students Association, the Salt Company, a Christian ministry on campus and she works through the Student Assessment Office alongside the Assessment Committee. 

Johnson said she valued the connections she made with the other nominees while being a part of the Homecoming Court. 

“The experiences we went through together made us all a lot closer, like helping with the blood drive and the Tiger Food Fight,” Johnson said. “It was great just making an impact on campus and the Columbia community.”

Homecoming King Christian Hall is a senior from St. Charles, Missouri. The organization he represented was his fraternity, Sigma Phi Epsilon. He is studying accounting and economics and hopes to move to Denver, Colorado post-graduation in hopes of teaching financial literacy and business classes. 

Hall is the vice president of programming for his fraternity, which includes helping set up fraternity-run events. Hall is also a part of organizations such as the Mizzou Alumni Association, Trulaske Student Council, Trulaske Business Student Ambassadors, Alpha Kappa Psi and the Cornell Leadership Program. 

Hall said he loves being involved on campus because he gets the chance to make new connections. Similarly to Johnson, Hall’s favorite part of being on the Homecoming Court was the connections he grew with the other nominees. 

“With the other candidates, it was great getting to meet them and getting to talk with them,” Hall said. “So when they called my name, I was shocked. I almost felt undeserving as I looked around and wondered how they did not win.” 

Even though involvement is an important aspect of the Homecoming Court, nominees said there is not always a direct correlation between being involved and winning the Homecoming king or queen title.

“Yes, we were all involved, but a lot of times it wasn’t our involvement that got us there,” Hall said. “Strong character matters so much more.”

The homecoming nominees said they aim to make a positive impact on campus, even if it is a small one. According to both Johnson and Hall, being a part of the court wasn’t all about winning for them, it was more focused on the impact they would make. 

“Even just applying, being on top 30, being on top 10 and winning was kind of like an affirmative of, ‘Yes, you’ve made an impact that has made for better on campus,’” Johnson said. “The impact means more than just winning. Yes, I’m proud, but I’m also proud of everybody else.”

Edited by Sophia Anderson | sanderson@themaneater.com 

Copy edited by Emma Short and Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com