Miami University is looking to improve its voting process for homecoming king and queen after last year's controversy surrounding alumni voting.
According to the homecoming week co-chair Allison Gnaegy, the voting process utilized a paper ballot system in the past. However, last year the voting became available online through The Hub. This allowed alumni, especially 2012 graduates with unique IDs, to log onto The Hub and vote for both homecoming king and queen. This also allowed some nominees to tell friends who graduated to vote for them, possibly altering the results. This year, Miami Activities and Programming (MAP) put limits on who would be eligible to vote for homecoming king and queen on The Hub.
In order for someone to be nominated for the homecoming court, an organization has to fill out a competition packet and participate in two events throughout the week, Gnaegy said. Each organization can nominate one member, with first-round voting ending at 1 p.m. Wednesday. The second round leaves five men and five women, and students can vote for the king and queen during Thursday and Friday voting.
"The homecoming king and queen will be announced at halftime of the football game against Akron," Gnaegy said.
Along with announcing the homecoming king and queen, MAP and the Alumni Association planned a full week of activities for both students and alumni. MAP took charge of planning many of the events, including a raffle on Thursday during RedFest on the Roudebush lawn. Senior Kaila Frisone, a member of MAP, worked with Oxford businesses to get them to donate to the raffle.
"Of the 16 gifts so far, Oxford businesses have donated 12 of them, and I'm very pleased with the turnout," Frisone said.
Frisone said she could not pick an event that she is looking forward to the most, but said RedFest and Tailgate Town should be a great place to be for students.
There will also be events that will allow the alumni to interact with current students. Michelle Rosecrans, the director of alumni programs, worked closely with MAP to create a week for both students and alumni. The first-ever Run for Love & Honor 5K will take place at 8 a.m. on Saturday starting at Millet Hall.
"Any time you can get alumni involved and come back to Oxford is very exciting," Rosecrans said. There will be other events that will also attract alumni, according to Rosecrans.
The Uptown Parade, which starts at 5:30 p.m. on Friday and begins at Millett Hall, is also very popular with the alumni, Rosecrans said.
Other events for the weekend include a screening of the movie "Oz: The Great and Powerful" on Friday at Uptown Park, two hockey games between Miami and North Dakota at Goggin Ice Arena, the football game against Akron at Yager Stadium.
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