Mark Robinson
Assistant News Editor
Of the 13 candidates on the VCU homecoming court this year, all but two of them are associated with VCU Greek life.
One of those two, Demetrius “Demie-Lee” Carter, a senior broadcast journalism major, is sponsored by the Black Caucus. Carter said he thinks more Greek-affiliated students run for homecoming king and queen because of tradition, but does not think the contest unfairly favors them.
“I do think I am at a disadvantage because I am not Greek affiliated,” Carter said. “I do believe that being Greek gives you a great amount of votes due to the Greek community being very united. I just hope people vote base on my platform and not who I associate myself with.”
By rule, each student on homecoming court has to be sponsored by a VCU student organization or entity, but not necessarily a Greek one, said Christina Edwards, Homecoming chairwoman.
The process for choosing the homecoming king and queen naturally favors students with larger organizations backing them, Edwards said.
“(Greeks) have a bigger support base than someone running who’s from a smaller organization,” she said. “I think it’s more competitive on a Greek level… just knowing that you’re competing against other Greeks.”
The VCU homecoming king and queen are determined by a point system. Each court members’ participation or performance in the scheduled week of homecoming events, like the blood drive or the Residence Hall Step-Off, is awarded by points, which account for 70 percent of the weight. The student vote counts for the remaining 30 percent.
Members of the homecoming court are expected to promote the events to draw people out to support them. The student organization that sponsors them is supposed to help them accomplish this, Edwards said.
Edwards said she sent the homecoming court application to all 500 VCU student organizations through the Listserv network, but received little interest from any non-Greek organizations.
“Some people just think it’s a Greek thing, but it’s not,” Edwards said. “People who aren’t Greek aren’t really accepting the opportunity given to them. They just think ‘Oh, it’s a Greek thing. I don’t want to run against Greeks.’ but it’s not.”
The Greek-affiliated student’s majority has not guaranteed victory in the past. Last year’s homecoming queen, Tania Bolden, was endorsed by the African Student Union, not a sorority.
Carter is hoping the trend of non-Greek affiliated success continues this year.
“I am not running for popularity,” he said. “I’m running because I want to show others that you don’t need to be affiliated with any popular Greek organization to win.”
The 2011-2012 homecoming king and queen will be announced at halftime of the VCU Men’s Basketball Game against Northeastern this Saturday at the Siegel Center.
Correction: Alpha Gamma Delta, Phi Mu, and Alpha Omicron Pi are all women’s fraternities, not sororities. Theta Nu Xi is Theta is Theta Nu Xi Multicultural Sorority, Inc. and alpha Kappa Delta Phi is alpha Kappa Delta Phi Sorority, Inc.
Photos by Amber-Lynn Taber