When I started my “grassroots” campaign for Homecoming Queen I talked to a lot of people. I wanted everyone who voted for me to know why I’d made the court and amazingly most of them already understood. People I didn’t know, friends of friends, professors, who had just seen me around all comment on my part of the court as if it made sense. “Oh you’re the girl who’s involved in everything,” “You’re that student who is always at Whitman,” “Of course you’re on court you’re in everything else,” and those people voted for me because they knew I was a good representation of what Syracuse University stood for. Engagement.

Other awards on campus are similar but judge different things. The Orange Spirit Award judges your love of the school and how much it shows to other people. The Senior Class Marshals are judged on academics, as well as their dedication to their class and the community. But court, court is judged solely on engagement, whatever and wherever on campus that maybe. It’s about taking your love for the university you call home and seeing how you turned it into something meaningful.

Of course engagement could be misconstrued as popularity. When you’re involved in a lot, you know a lot of people, but being engaged is different. It’s what leads people you haven’t officially met, and professors you’ve never had, to believe that you are a good representation of the campus solely because they have heard and seen the things you’ve done energized by orange spirit.

Because of this, the court has and always will be extremely diverse, and as more people learn about the possibility of applying for court, the group will only become more amazing. And as long as they love Syracuse they’re more than welcome to apply.

Regina King
Syracuse University Class of 2015