By Tyler White | Staff Writer
Over the years, the homecoming court has seen many changes, from the people included to the qualities judged. From its origins as a beauty pageant to today’s focus on character and values, the court has evolved into something that looks inward more than outward.
When the tradition first began, the homecoming queen was selected based upon the quality and design of the float she was on. Moving into the 1930s and 1940s, the homecoming queen was chosen based on her beauty, poise and grace in conjunction with the quality of the float she was on.
Charleston, Ill., senior Abby Geisler, a member of the homecoming committee, said that over time, the homecoming court began to focus more on students’ involvement at Baylor and how they represent Baylor’s values.
“I think one of the really cool things has been the sort of change away from it being more like a beauty contest. Like the queen was just the most beautiful woman who looked the best in her gown,” Geisler said. “But now it truly is a lot more focused on — actually it’s exclusively focused on — academics, involvement.”
According to the Baylor website, this shift began in 1973, when women were separated from the floats and were judged according to their personality, beauty, poise and involvement. Moving into the 2000s, the women who were nominated by their organizations were then interviewed by a panel that discussed philanthropy, scholarship, spiritual commitment and more.
“They have to submit questionnaires and interesting questions, just basic information about themselves, and then they’ll interview with the judges,” Geisler said. “And then the judges will just kind of sit together and really decide from the interviews and all that stuff — their interviews, their questionnaires and getting to meet them and speak to them.”
In 2021, the homecoming court expanded to include a homecoming king, which allowed for greater representation of the student body. Geisler said it’s been amazing to see how Baylor has expanded the court to allow more people to represent Baylor.
“I truly feel like Baylor is very much being representative or represented, and now, any organization can nominate anyone for court, which is really cool to see,” Geisler said. “So we have people from just all over campus. … So it’s just really, really cool to see the way that everyone is being involved.”
In a 2021 Lariat article, Grapevine graduate Abby Tanner, that year’s homecoming court coordinator in, said the court was setting a precedent by expanding to include a king. She said it would allow more students to showcase what they do for the Baylor community.
“We’re super excited for the addition of guys in this tradition,” Tanner said. “King and his court was added because we wanted everybody to be recognized, not just women, because everybody has done great work for Baylor and is involved.”
Geisler said the court continues to expand, bringing in more representation from a variety of student organizations that showcase the different values of Baylor. She said it’s exciting to see how the court has evolved over the years and how it will continue to grow in the future.
“I think it’d be cool to see more organizations getting into it in the future,” Geisler said. “I’m definitely excited to kind of see how it changes in the future.”
