SRU has set itself apart with genderless royalty
This year a handful of universities nationwide, including Slippery Rock University and Penn State, have ditched gender roles associated with homecoming king and queen.
SRU would be the first school in the Pennsylvania Academic System of Higher Education to do so, according to Lauren Moran, director of student engagement and leadership and student adviser of the homecoming committee.
“It's moving forward in a way that I think higher education is moving toward in general,” Moran said. “I think we're just ahead of where other schools are going.”
By weekend's end, SRU will crown two winners — homecoming royalty — from candidates put forth by organizations throughout the university.
Voting started Tuesday night and runs until noon Friday. The homecoming court will be announced Friday, and the winners will be announced Saturday at halftime of the football game against California University of Pennsylvania.
Students may vote for two candidates, regardless of gender, and the winners can be any combination of genders and will not be confined to one male and one female.
Katie Whitling, a senior in the communications major and a committee member, said the change was made to be more inclusive and make homecoming more about the individual.
“I know we've gotten a lot of positive feedback from this. I think Slippery Rock is very proud of this,” Whitling said. “We want every student to feel as though they belong here.”
Courtney Mullins, a graduate student in child development, student affairs and higher education program, said aside from removing gender specifics from the candidacy, the process from start to finish is still the same.
Students put forth by their organization for homecoming this year needed to submit an application showing a junior-level of credits and a quality point average above 3.0. The application also involved a questionnaire about their experience at the university.
Mullins said no policy ever dictated how homecoming should work. The committee that works on the event every year makes changes at their discretion and by seeking input from their peers.
“It is not a policy change,” she said. “This is something we are implementing onto our campus based on the needs of our students.”
Kelly Lane, a senior in the early childhood and special education major and committee member, said the committee had discussed the change since last year. She said there were some negative comments about the change, but most of the input was positive.
Lane said retaining the title of king and queen was something that was carried over from the past, but times change. She said tradition lives in the event, not in the verbiage.
“If we're thinking of tradition, I would say that homecoming as a whole is the tradition,” Lane said. “We're changing the aspects that people think about it because times have changed. This world has changed, and every day we come to a new discussion about how we can do this better and how can we better include all students.”
Here are some highlighted events for Slippery Rock University’s “There’s no place like homecoming” festivities. See www.slipperyrock.com/there-is-no-place-like-homecoming-2018/ for a full schedule.Friday5 p.m. Distinguished Alumni Awards dinner, Russell Wright Alumni House6 p.m. Media Hall of Fame ceremony, RMS Student Center Ballroom8 to 9 p.m. Homecoming pep rally, ARC9 p.m. Homecoming fireworks display, quadSaturday10 a.m. Homecoming parade, Main Street2 p.m. SRU football vs Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, Mihalik-Thompson StadiumSunday1 p.m. Polish the Rock2 p.m. SRU women’s soccer vs California University of Pennsylvania, Egli Field4:30 p.m. SRU men’s soccer vs California University of Pennsylvania, Egli Field
