Qwinsuan Anderson and Olivia Bennett were named homecoming court king and queen, and Jeremiah Fizer and Alyssa Garcia were named prince and princess at the EIU Homecoming Coronation on Monday. 

Homecoming King Qwinsuan Anderson, a senior pre-med biology major and a resident assistant at Taylor Hall, had his own approach in preparation for his candidacy. 

Being part of the men’s track team and other activities, Anderson said that he has connected with a lot of people on campus and that these connections played a major factor in his campaign.  

“It started with word to mouth, and once I made my campaign flyers, with me being an athlete and resident assistant, it was easy to spread the word and have other people promote me as well,” Anderson said.  

Anderson said he wants to use this recognition to be a voice for alumni and to build connections with EIU students.  

“Now that my face is out there and my name is out there, I will be able to be a good representation for others on campus,” he said. 

As a lifetime resident of Charleston and third generation Panther, Bennett said she has grown up with a strong pride for EIU and is grateful to be able to represent it. 

However, this title came with hard work and preparation. 

“I did a lot of interview prep,” Bennett said. “I want to make sure it’s not just student voting influencing my role in homecoming. I just want to make sure I am a worthy candidate to represent the university [in] that I’m involved with different things on campus and different people.”  

Part of Bennett and Anderson’s new responsibilities as king and queen include representing Eastern and being role models for students and the Charleston community during Homecoming Week events, which they are required to attend. 

“They are the face of homecoming and to the student body,” said Lilia Ochoa, university board homecoming chair elect. “They need to act appropriately and make sure they’re a good representation.” 

Fizer, a sophomore major in mathematics and member of Phi Kappa Theta, described the responsibilities of being prince as plentiful. 

“Heavy lies the crown,” said Fizer, referencing the number of duties that come with the title.  

Garcia, a sophomore psychology major and member of Alpha Sigma, stated in a telephone interview that besides providing an opportunity to meet people on campus, being princess will also help her represent her sorority, which Garcia said she holds pride in. 

All positions were elected through voting procedures that were different than last year’s requirements, according to Mike Collman, a sophomore nutrition sciences major and homecoming steering committee chair of coronation and elections. 

Collman said in previous years, candidates were required to submit a video essay that had to be five minutes long, could be edited, and answered general questions. 

This year, videos were no longer required, and the homecoming committee had candidates do in-person interviews instead. 

“I wanted to see a little change in the system,” Collman said. “We’re in college, and we’re adults, so we wanted to see if they could sit down and have conversation with us.” 

60% of the election decision was based on the in-person interview, according to Collman.  

10% of the election decision rested on the student’s application, and 30% rested on the student body vote, Collman said. 

From there, determinations were made by the judge panel, which the student life office said consisted of a variety of professors and program directors. 

“We try to find faculty and staff on campus who have been here for a long time and are able to judge,” said Ochoa.

Andrea Jimenez can be reached at 581-2812 or ajimenez10@eiu.edu.