FARGO, N.D. — For the second time in three years, students at North Dakota State University selected two male winners instead of the traditional king and a queen for homecoming royalty.
As much as some on social media want to start a controversy, the university isn’t having it.
“The voting process developed by students was implemented beginning in 2021,” shared Mackenzie Mueller, Student President of Campus Attractions. “That year, two male winners were crowned.”
She continued, “Students are really excited for our two winners as they represent our overall “Bison Pride” and are involved with a number of clubs and organizations on campus. The student body is excited to have Conner Dilse and Zachary Quirk as our 2023 homecoming royalty.”
Out of 12 people on stage competing for homecoming royalty, seven of them were women and five were men. After Quirk and Dilse received their crowns, inappropriate comments and opinions began to appear on the university’s social media platforms. So much so, the university began deleting the comments and ultimately turned off comment sections.
According to Mueller, the process for homecoming court is done in two phases. The first part is nominations and an interview process open to the whole student body. After interviews, the 12 court members are chosen by a panel of students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
The second phase is out of the 12-member pool, the whole student body votes during homecoming week. From there, the top two vote recipients are crowned homecoming royalty.
