Some of UF’s top leaders competed for the title of Homecoming king and queen Sunday night, sharing advice and smiles with a crowd of about 400.
The annual Homecoming Pageant, part of UF Homecoming and Gator Growl, selects a king and queen, along with other titles like “most congenial” and “crowd favorite.”
On Sunday night at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, located at 3201 Hull Road, judges narrowed down the pool of 30 to eight finalists. The initial 30 were selected from a wider pool of applicants, said Jenna Stephany, the pageant director of UF Homecoming and Gator Growl.
The Homecoming king and queen of the pageant will be announced at Gator Growl on Oct. 6.
The Homecoming Pageant serves as an opportunity to display UF’s leaders, Stephany said.
“The highest leaders on campus are coming out to compete for king and queen to represent UF,” Stephany said. “They are all around amazing members of UF.”
The 30 applicants participated in an opening dance number, a Gator spirit portion and a formal-wear event.
Five judges, including Student Body President Smith Meyers and Shannon Summerlin, the director of development for UF Performing Arts, chose 15 finalists to move onto the next portion, where the judges asked each finalist questions about involvement on campus, how they define success, advice for freshmen and more.
The judges then moved on to select the eight finalists who will represent UF on the Homecoming court.
Audience members were able to select their two crowd favorites by voting on the app, GatorWay. Brawn Nelson and Elizabeth Wilson were chosen as the crowd favorites. Nelson and Cassidy Clare were voted as Mr. and Miss Congeniality by the audience as well.
Grace Downey, the associate producer of communications for the UF Homecoming Pageant and Gator Growl, said the event had been in planning since May.
“(The Homecoming Pageant) is a long-standing tradition and very important to the UF community, as shown by the large crowd size here tonight,” Downey said.
@camille_respess
