October 10, 2021

Graphic by Jack Butchart

Homecoming season at MU arrives with a flurry of activities, from the football game to a parade to a blood drive. The tradition of crowning a Homecoming king and queen remains an MU staple in 2021. Any senior  graduating in December 2021, May 2022 or August 2022 is eligible for the competition this year. 

MU began crowning a Homecoming queen in the 1930s and started recognizing a Homecoming king in the 1970s. Every year, students from a variety of organizations are represented in the Top 30 and Top 10 competition for the crowns, and the winners are announced during the Homecoming football game. 

Charlie Koors, Mizzou Alumni Association coordinator of Alumni and Student Activities, highlighted the qualities of the nominees for Homecoming king and queen.

“I think it is really cool that we get to recognize people based on their love, commitment and service to Mizzou,” Koors said. “We recognize the Top 10 as the students on campus who best live up to our values of respect, responsibility, excellence and discovery.”

In recent years, students have requested a change in verbiage used in the Homecoming royalty competition. Senior Mac McMullan, nominated for the homecoming Top 30 as the president of Greek Allies, said changing the gendered official titles of “king” and “queen” to neutral terms would match student verbiage.

“It would be really cool if we continued to use the language that the students are using, which is mostly ‘royalty’ or ‘top 10,’ not your five kings and five queens,” McMullan said. 

Despite student opinion, the association chose to maintain the “king” and “queen” titles for the 2021 Homecoming. Todd McCubbin, associate vice chancellor and MAA executive director, emphasized the importance of maintaining tradition and the difficulties of adjusting them.  

 “We’re always looking at our traditions and what they say about where we’ve come and who we are,” McCubbin said. “Analyzing traditions and then modifying them is a slow process — they wouldn’t be considered traditions if they changed constantly. In those reflections we have identified ways to make royalty more inclusive.”

While the language of the competition will remain the same, Koors said nominated students are given the opportunity to select the title they prefer to run under, in addition to noting pronouns.

“We are pretty inclusive at this point in time because we let students self-identify,” Koors said. “They are the ones that get to choose whether they apply as a Homecoming king or queen, and then from that, they also get to choose the pronouns they use throughout the entire process.” 

McMullen said they appreciated how the MAA steering committee worked to include organizations outside of the Panhellenic Association into the traditions through the levels of involvement incorporated into the Homecoming celebrations. 

“Encouraging those organizations that are not the traditionally involved ones in Homecoming, like the Panhellenic [Association] sororities or [Interfraternity Council] fraternities, is going to be the most meaningful way to make it diverse,” McMullen said.

Homecoming celebrations are exemplary of MU’s dedication to traditions. The Homecoming king and queen tradition will continue its use of gendered titles, while attempting to stay inclusive.

“I think back in 2015, when the levels of involvement were introduced, we really pushed that everyone can have a place in Homecoming,” Koors said. “We are so open to finding everyone a place in Homecoming.”

Edited by Shannon Worley | sworley@themaneater.com

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