TIGERTV ONLINE REPORTER
The homecoming court has been expanded from juniors and seniors only to include four juniors, two sophomores and a freshman this year.
The homecoming student committee made the proposition and Campus Life approved the decision in May. Court Chair Katelyn Leonard said the committee made the proposition because they wanted to see an increase in student involvement in the homecoming court process.
“We wanted to expand participation in homecoming and create a broader student base,” Leonard said.
No new titles have been created; two seniors will be picked for homecoming king and queen as usual. The difference is these new court members will be representing their fellow lower-classmen as part of the 13-member court.
“They will be recognized not only as students but as student leaders on LSU campus,” Leonard said.
Students have mixed views on the inclusion of underclassmen into the court.
“I have more of a reason to be interested now that there are people from my class involved,” history sophomore Craig Poche said.
Other students would rather stick to tradition.
“I think it’s a great concept to include underclassmen representatives in the court, but I prefer the traditional method of a king and queen from the senior class only,” education sophomore Elizabeth Carmena said.
Leonard also said the committee doesn’t know yet if this expansion to the court will be permanent or if it is just in honor of the 100-year anniversary of homecoming at LSU.
“We’d like it to be a permanent change, but that will be discussed next homecoming,” Leonard said.
Students don’t have to be nominated to the court, but can instead apply themselves. To be eligible they must be a full-time student with 12 hours and not be on academic or disciplinary probation.
After the deadline to apply it took about three or four weeks by Leonard’s estimation to review all the applicants and pick the top 30. After another round of reviews the court members were announced a week later.
Leonard said expanding the court has never been done that way before.
“We will see more people involved in homecoming through the process of an expanded court,” Leonard said. “More classifications applied and the word spread because somebody they know actually applied.”
According to www.homecoming.lsu.edu, students can vote for homecoming king and queen seniors from 8 a.m., Tuesday, November 10 until 3 p.m., Thursday, November 12 by logging into their PAWS account. The king and queen will be announced at the beginning of halftime during the homecoming game against Louisiana Tech this Saturday.
